Vadodara: Even if you embarrass you when the roadside vendor holds your RS500 record against the light to make sure it’s original, you can’t blame it.
Because, Gujarat has gained fame having the third highest seizure of the counterfeit currency in this country after Maharashtra and West Bengal.
In fact, last year the country occupied the same list in fake currency seizures! A report on crime in India in 2020 released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) revealed that 32 people were arrested last year in Gujarat in a fake currency racket.
A large number of fake seizures managed to keep the police on their toes.
The police said that one of the reasons behind the high circulation of currencies in this country was that he shared the border with Pakistan.
“The neighboring country often pumps in a fake currency record by sea and the land border that we share with it.
The purpose behind the racket is to disrupt the country’s economy,” said a senior police officer.
The police also said that the state has several businesses that are rich in money and therefore it becomes easier to circulate the fake currency here.
Many gangs also source records of counterfeit currencies from the Malda district in West Bengal which is one of the hubs for the racket.
The Gujarat police have broken some such racquets where the residents of West Bengal, have been sourced by the fake currency notes from Malda, traveling towards Gujarat to circulate it on the market.
In 2020, Maharashtra topped the list of countries with fake currency seizures as 38,664 records of counterfeit currencies from the value of Rs 2.63 Crore confiscated in the state.
Police said that compared to previous years, the circulation of counterfeit currencies fell in Gujarat in 2020 because of locking and restrictions on the movement because of Covid.
Trade bodies in the country continue to organize awareness programs to ensure that employers and traders are not victims of this racket.