Counterfeit currency fear grips Tandur

​Tandur (Ranga Reddy): Circulation of counterfeit currency notes in the town has become an issue of serious concern of late. Tandur is a major commercial centre which is famous for slab stone, pulses and other commodities. Business transactions worth crores of rupees are done every day.

Instances of exchange of fake currency at petrol pumps, cinema theatres and busy commercial centres were reported earlier. Contrary to the earlier practice, a woman of Nagulapally village in Peddemul mandal tried to deposit counterfeit notes worth Rs 40,000 into her account in a nationalised bank branch recently. When the bank officials examined the notes, they were found to be fake.

During police inquiry, it was revealed that the woman deposited large amounts of money into her bank account on two occasions earlier and those notes were also fake. Counterfeit notes worth Rs 40,000 were seized from her house. The source of supply was not known. In another case, two persons were arrested at Mominpet in February and counterfeit notes worth Rs two lakh were seized from them.

The two instances gave suspicion that the counterfeit currency racket was operating in a big way in the area. But police are yet to nab the kingpin of the fake currency racket. The steep rise in volume of business attracted ‘fake note’ gangs and they clandestinely started circulation of counterfeit currency. Traders from neighbouring States also come to Tandur to make purchases.

As the counterfeit currency was very similar to genuine notes in several aspects, detecting them in a wad of cash seemed not an easy task. A majority of people were not fully aware of the security features of genuine currency. The fake note gangs were exploiting the ignorance of people by passing counterfeit currency as genuine notes.