Buy money from ‘Children Bank of India’, other funny labels in Punjab for Re 1 | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
close_game
close_game

Buy money from ‘Children Bank of India’, other funny labels in Punjab for Re 1

Hindustan Times, Nabha | ByMohit Singla
Feb 23, 2017 06:19 PM IST

Toy and stationery shops in Punjab’s Nabha town are selling near-identical specimens of the new Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 currency notes for as little as Rs 1 a piece even as the government battles to crackdown on fake money circulation.

Toy and stationery shops in Punjab’s Nabha town are selling near-identical specimens of the new Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 currency notes for just a few bucks even as the government tries its best to staunch the flow of bogus bills.

Fake notes of Rs 2000 which were dispensed by an SBI ATM in south Delhi on Wednesday.(PTI Photo)
Fake notes of Rs 2000 which were dispensed by an SBI ATM in south Delhi on Wednesday.(PTI Photo)

The purpose behind the ‘currency notes’ appears to be ‘fun’ if one goes by the labels on them, but they can easily take anyone for a ride. The size, contours and colour combination are so perfect that they don’t raise suspicion at first glance.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

“A Rs 500 note was lying on the refrigerator, which I gave to the newspaper hawker. He came back after an hour and told me that I had given him a fake note. My grandson told me that he had bought it from a stationery shop for Re 1,” a senior citizen told this reporter.

When this correspondent checked in the market, the notes were being sold at a few stationary and toy shops. The notes were labelled as “Children Bank of India”, “Churan Lable” and had other funny words on them. Since people are not fully accustomed to the feel of the new notes, they can easily be fooled.

“There is a good demand for these notes. Children and adults both buy them. I have sold around 15 packets,” said a shopkeeper.

Nabha deputy superintendent of police Jaskeerat Singh, who saw these notes, said he will check what his department can do to check their sale.

“However the labels are clear, the matter is serious since it’s easy to use them in transaction at petrol pumps or dark places like street food vendors who set their stalls in the evening,” the DSP told Hindustan Times.

“The police will require the directions from higher authorities in seizing these notes from the market,” he added.

Political leaders from opposition parties in the state said the claims of the Narendra Modi government that demonetisation will to purge the economy of “black money” and counterfeit bills have fallen flat.

“If toy making companies can make such specimens, anti-social elements are bound to do a much better job to produce the counterfeits,” Randeep Singh Nabha, Congress MLA from Amloh, said.

“The government should have printed the currency notes using advanced safety features at least,” said AAP leader Gian Singh.

Similar Rs 2,000 notes were dispensed from a State Bank of India ATM in south Delhi’s Sangam Vihar, which appeared genuine at first glance but a closer look revealed deliberate errors.

Fake bills seized
December 2016:
An engineering graduate from Chitkara University was nabbed in Mohali for printing Rs 2,000 fake currency notes amounting to Rs 80 lakh. But police could recover just Rs 42 lakh from three of the accused - Abhinav Verma (21) an engineering graduate; Suman Nagpal (54) a property dealer of Ludhiana and Vishakha Verma (23) of Kapurthala who was pursuing MBA from Manipur.
December 2016
Railway police in Bathinda arrested 3 people and recovered locally-printed counterfeit currency notes worth Rs 5,100—one Rs 2,000 banknote, six new Rs 500 notes and one fake Rs 100 note. The accused Paramjit Singh owned a photo studio in Faridkot and printed fake Rs 100 notes on his scanner and printer and used them to purchase things for his daily needs.
December 2016
Sangrur Police arrested four men and recovered Rs 4.15 lakh in fake currency notes of Rs 2,000 and Rs 100 near Bhawanigarh in the district

A customer care executive of a call centre in Chhatarpur withdrew Rs 8,000 — in denominations of 2,000 — from the ATM on February 6 and found to his horror that four bills were issued by the “Children Bank of India” and “Bharatiya Manoranjan Bank”. Not the Reserve Bank of India, which is the issuing authority of cash in the country.

The notes were “Guaranteed by the Children’s Government” in place of “Guaranteed by the Central Government”, “Churan label” instead of the latent image, and a ‘PK’ logo took the place of the RBI seal among some of the other obvious deviations.

Unveiling 'Elections 2024: The Big Picture', a fresh segment in HT's talk show 'The Interview with Kumkum Chadha', where leaders across the political spectrum discuss the upcoming general elections. Watch now!

Get Current Updates on India News, Lok Sabha Election 2024 Date Live, Lok Sabha Election 2024 Schedule along with Latest News and Top Headlines from India and around the world.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
OPEN APP
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Sunday, March 17, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On