Fake notes worth 17 crore found in Saharanpur bank

Counterfeit Currency in a Bank Vault

Counterfeit notes worth about 17 crore rupees, or roughly 170 million rupees, have been found in the currency chest of a Punjab National Bank branch in Saharanpur, a city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. A currency chest is a secure store where a bank holds cash on behalf of the central bank before it is issued to branches.

A joint team of 21 officials from the Reserve Bank of India, the country's central bank, and Punjab National Bank, a state-owned lender, has taken up the inquiry. According to livehindustan.com, the team reached Saharanpur on Tuesday and spent about eight hours going through records at the bank. Police teams are also involved, with checks at the branch continuing until late that evening.

A Shortfall of 4.30 Lakh That Opened the Case

The matter began with a much smaller discrepancy, livehindustan.com reported. After currency worth about 11.50 crore rupees was sent to the Reserve Bank's Jaipur office, a shortfall of only 4.30 lakh rupees, about 430,000 rupees, came to light and an inquiry was opened.

That check led investigators back to the chest itself, where fake notes worth about 7.40 crore rupees were found. As the examination widened, the total reached roughly 17 crore rupees.

The same report says three bank officials were found to have a suspicious role and action has already been taken against them. It adds that no link between any individual officer and the source of the notes can be settled before the inquiry is complete. The officials have not been named in the sources.

The Cash Trail Under Examination

Dainik Bhaskar reports that the team is not stopping at the recovery itself and is retracing the entire journey of the cash, from its arrival at the bank through counting, sorting, verification and final deposit in the chest. The aim is to identify the stage at which the fake notes slipped past the system's checks.

Investigators are matching registers and documents on how much cash arrived, on what dates and from where, and are checking bundle numbers, which branch or chest the money came from, which employee received it and which officer verified it. They are also examining the note-detection machines and the prescribed checking procedure for any weakness.

The team is studying the nature and features of the seized notes to work out whether they come from a single source or entered the banking system through different channels. If the notes are traced to another branch or chest, the inquiry could extend beyond Saharanpur. Where the money originated and how it entered the banking channel is not yet known, and the sources say those answers will come only when the joint team's report is out.