Aiming to check the menace of fake Indian currency notes, the Central Bureau of Investigation is creating a national data bank of such notes to trace their origin.
The moves comes after the recent seizure of fake Indian currency notes having a face value of around Rs 8 crore (Rs 80 million).
"We are developing a national data bank of fake currency notes so that it helps in source identification. It will help us trace the origin of the fake notes and the areas in which it has been circulated. The idea is to discourage further printing of fake currencies," a senior CBI official said.
The proposal has been sent to the Planning Commission for approval, sources said. In recent years, mostly Rs 500
"Forged notes are aimed to introduce terrorism in the country and subvert the economy," he said.
In the past, it was easy to detect fake currencies as they were printed by people with limited expertise, using crude facilities. But with the forgers attaining a high level of sophistication, it is increasingly difficult to detect such notes.
The forgery is done so well that it is hard to tell which is the real currency. "To an unsuspecting person, the fake currency appears as good as the genuine note," said another official.