Within a fortnight of introduction of Rs 2,000 denomination currency notes by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), a pan shop owner in Ahmedabad received a fake Rs 2,000 note.
The incident is being seen as alarming as one of the motives for demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denomination currency notes was to curb menace of fake currency notes paralysing the nation’s economy.
Vansh Barot, who runs a swanky pan shop in Ahmedabad’s upmarket locality Judges Bungalow area, says that the note had perhaps been exchanged by an unknown customer at his shop over the weekend. Though he did go through entire video footage of last 3-4 days, he could not ascertain which of his customer had slipped in the fake note.
“I never thought that anyone would possibly pass on a fake currency of Rs 2,000 so soon after introduction of a new currency. Moreover, the note had close resemblance to the original one, including watermark and thread. There was little for me to doubt its authenticity,” Barot said. Barot realized the fake nature of the note when one of his suppliers pointed it out to him. PNS
“When I placed it against other similar notes, I could see the difference. Not only was it slightly smaller in size, the quality of paper used in fake currency appeared inferior. Even the seven raised angular bleed lines on both sides of the note were not consistent as in valid currency note,” he said.
To verify his doubts, he took the fake note to couple of state owned banks. The officials at both these banks confirmed that the note was indeed a fake and not a photocopy. The bankers pointed out that the emblem too was not printed properly and the colour of the fake note was darker than the real note. Barot, now on the advice of the bankers, approached the regional office of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in Ahmedabad to deposit the fake note with a statutory application.