Fake currency notes with a face value of ₹ 3.24 lakh seized by the Saravanampatti police from three persons on Sunday were of very low quality and were printed on A4 papers using desktop printing facilities, said a senior police officer.
M. Bhaskaran, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime-East), told The Hindu that the accused had not circulated the fake currencies printed by them as they landed in police net before taking them to market.
132 fake notes
S. Kithar Mohammed (66) of Vadavalli, T. Mahendran (39) of Kavundampalayam, and E. Suriyakumar (30) of Thiruvalluar Nagar on Thadagam Road, were arrested with 132 fake notes of ₹ 2,000 denomination and 200 notes of ₹ 200 denomination. The police also seized scanner, printer, photocopying machine and other equipment they used for printing the notes.
Mr. Bhaskaran said that the notes were of very low quality and their colour came off when the paper was rubbed with fingers.
He said that the notes seized from the three accused could not even be compared to high quality counterfeit bills that imitate security features such as watermarks, security thread, latent image, see through registration, print quality sharpness, raised effect, fluorescent characteristics, substrate quality, paper taggant, colour shift effect in optically variable ink and colour shift effectsecurity thread. Hence, according to the officer, it was not required to book the accused under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) 1967 as done in the case of high quality counterfeit notes. In February 2013, the Government of India framed Investigation of High Quality Counterfeit Indian Currency Offences Rules under the UAPA and brought production, smuggling or circulation of such notes under the ambit of the Act.
