NIA ropes in ISI for study on fake currency notes

The Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) and National Investigation Agency (NIA) will jointly conduct a study to analyse trends related to the circulation of fake Indian currency notes (FICN) in the country, especially those originating across the borders.

The ISI study will help NIA ascertain the modus operandi of the proliferation of FICN along with the ways to check it, official sources said.

The need for a study on FICN was felt during the last meeting of the Economic Intelligence Council, an apex body on financial crimes, the sources added.

"There are multiple agencies probing fake currency note cases. Their analyses vary from case to case. A government agency is asked to probe such instances on a case-to-case basis.

"The study will help us understand the trend of FICN in the country. Its findings will be shared with all other agencies concerned," a source said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the NIA are the central agencies for the investigation of FICN cases.

The government has set up a terror-funding and fake currency cell in NIA to focus on investigation of terror funding and counterfeit currency cases. Cases of fake currency notes have been a matter of serious concern for intelligence agencies.

According to intelligence inputs, fake Indian currency notes are being pumped into the country through a self-sufficient criminal network in the South and South-East Asian region via Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and, also, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the sources said.

Of late, a new route of smuggling of FICN from China via Nepal has also been traced by intelligence agencies, they said.

There has been an increase in seizure of FICN in the country in the last three years. FICN with face value of Rs 15 crore was recovered in 2011 as against Rs 16.22 crore in 2012. The recovery in 2013 was Rs 24.45 crore, according to Home Ministry data.

Counterfeit currency with face value of Rs 6.95 crore has been recovered in the country between January and June this year, the data states.

The government has also formed a special FICN coordination group in the Home Ministry for the sharing of intelligence and information among the different state and central security agencies with a view to countering the menace of the circulation of fake currency notes.