Over half of the fake currency seized so far this year came from Maharashtra and Gujarat, with counterfeit notes of Rs 2,000 making the bulk, a Ministry of Home Affairs statistics showed.
Since the Rs 2,000 denomination notes were introduced after demonetisation in November 2016, a total of 1.54 lakh such fake notes were seized. Of this, more than 34,000 notes were seized from Gujarat alone.
Various law enforcement agencies have seized fake currency with a face value of Rs 5.05 crore from across the country this year till June 18. Maharashtra and Gujarat accounted for fake currencies with a face value of Rs 2.53 crore.
Police seized counterfeit notes with a face value of Rs 1.66 crore from Maharashtra in 33 cases, in which 40 people have been named. From Gujarat, fake notes with a face value of Rs 87.49 lakh were seized during the year in 42 cases.
Last year, Maharashtra had seized counterfeit notes of Rs 1.15 crore while it was Rs 1.23 crore in Gujarat. While Maharashtra has already surpassed last year's figure, Gujarat is fast catching up. Officials say the trend shows there are big rackets working in these states.
This year, West Bengal (Rs 82.43 lakh) stood third in seizure of fake notes followed by Tamil Nadu (Rs 65.76 lakh) and Uttar Pradesh (34.59 lakh). In Karnataka, fake notes with a face value of Rs 2.09 lakh were seized in eight cases so far, in which 22 people have been named.
According to data placed before the Lok Sabha, fake notes of Rs 15.48 crore were seized in 2015 while it rose to Rs 24.61 crore the next year. It further increased to Rs 28.10 crore in 2017, a year after demonetisation, which was pegged as one of the measures to tackle fake currency. However, in 2018, the seizures decreased with a face value of Rs 17.75 crore.
Officials said the drop in seizure of fake currency could mean two things — either the rackets are not being able to operate freely or the racketeers are getting the better of law enforcement agencies.
They pointed out that one cannot discount the fact that 1.54 lakh fake notes of Rs 2,000 denomination were seized. In 2016 alone, the MHA data showed 5,262 fake notes were seized.
"The Rs 2000 notes came in public domain after November 8, 2016 following demonetisation. In 2016 alone, 5,262 fake notes of this denomination were seized. That means, within 51 days in which the notes were in circulation, racketeers managed to circulate these notes," a senior police officer said.