It is a matter of great concern that the Kathmandu Valley and its peripheries have reported the circulating of fake Nepali currencies with some Nepali and Indian nationals found producing them in an organised way. A team of Nepal Police was able to arrest three Nepalis along with some fake Nepali currencies from Nayabasti of Bouddha in Kathmandu just before the Tihar festival. According to a news report published in this daily the other day, the police seized a machine along with some Rs. 34,000 fake Nepali notes and genuine currencies from them.

The criminal group possessed the machine that is used for printing counterfeit currencies. Besides, the police also grabbed 290 bundles of paper readied for printing the illegal currency notes. However, there have been many incidents of forged Indian currencies being transacted in the Indian market. Those arrested were found running their unlawful business in a rented flat at Nayabasti. As per the information made available by police, all of them were from Melung Rural Municipality of Dolakha district. It may be noted here that the arrestees admitted that they had already managed to supply Rs. 60,000 fake Nepali currencies in the market.

About six months back, police had also arrested two Nepalis from Bagbazaar of Kathmandu for swindling Nepalis citing that they would help create genuine currencies from other original ones. Police officials have said that the Kathmandu Valley had never witnessed such cases in the past. This incident is more than enough to prove that the trading of fake Nepali currencies is taking place in the country rampantly. The criminal group has been carrying out such activities in different parts of the country. It is also noted here that Indian nationals were also found involved in producing fake Nepali currencies.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Uttam Raj Subedi, who is the chief at the Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu, said that such groups usually transact few amounts of fake Nepali notes by placing them inside a bundle of genuine currencies while buying goods in the markets. Using the fake notes, they also pay bills in restaurants, shopping malls and retail shops. Despite having an organised network across the country, such criminal groups have done very nominal transaction in order to avoid chances of being fallen in police net. The main reason behind the involvement of youths in such undesirable activities is their ambition to get rich overnight. The modus operandi is they produce and keep the fake banknotes in hiding and wait for opportune and unsuspecting time to circulate in the market.

Some individuals were also found setting up a machine in Birgunj to print fake Nepali currencies. The records maintained by the Nepal Police Headquarters indicate that seven incidents of fake Nepali currencies took place in Kathmandu during the last one-and-a-half years and the police seized fake currencies amounting millions of rupees. It is needless to say that currency counterfeiting is a crime that poses a threat to a country’s economy. It is also a source of financial loss to its citizens. This reduces the value of real money besides giving rise to inflation in the economy. If this crime is not controlled in time, it may cause many other problems, including a loss of reputation of the country’s central bank. Therefore, the authorities concerned must make concerted efforts to combat this crime.