India Fighting With Fake Money

Even as the government of India speaks of taking preventive measures to curb the menace of fake currency, statistics show there is nearly Rs 12,00,000 crore worth of fake currency still in circulation in India.

While India managed to seal the fake currency's Pakistan and Nepal route into India to a large extent, Inter Services Intelligence-sponsored operatives have furthered their activities by shifting base to Thailand.

These elements have been pumping in fake currency into the Indian market with help of operatives of the Dawood gang who have a strong base in Thailand.

The key player in this racket today is Aftab Bhakti, a D Gang operative who reports directly to Major Ali and Arshad Khan, both top ranking ISI officers.

Bhakti grew in stature, as he had been operating out of Thailand for nearly a decade. During his earlier stint, he coordinated with the mafia in Thailand on behalf of the D-gang. They were primarily into smuggling of drugs.

The D gang's network is very deep-rooted in Thailand and there was already an existing route between this country and Bangladesh through which drugs were being smuggled.

Moreover, as this particular route was not on the radar of the Indian agencies, the ISI thought it would be best to use this route to transport fake currency as well.

This means that India does not have absolute control over the security features and are heavily reliant on these firms.
When the paper is imported, security features such as watermark, magnetic thread and the windowed security thread already exist. Experts say that it is not hard for these terror groups to get access to these notes. All they need to do is incorporate micro lettering and the face of the father of the nation into it.

It is time for India to rethink this aspect. Guarding the borders and other entry points will only solve 10 per cent of the problem, as these persons will continue to innovate and create newer routes to smuggle in fake currency.