Kathmandu, January 10

Racketeers are active in printing and circulating fake Nepali currency notes in Kathmandu valley.

Police arrested four persons with fake Nepali banknotes having face value of Rs 413,000 from Gongabu yesterday. Those taken into custody were Kamal Budhathoki, 29, of Salyan, Bal Bahadur Rana Magar, 32, of Kavre, Aryan Khadka, 24, of Doti and Chhatra Bahadur Limbu, 36, of Dhankuta.

According to Central Police New Section, they came to Kathmandu with the sole purpose of printing and pumping fake currency notes into the market for fast buck. The gang used to scan original notes and print them on A4 size paper. Police confiscated a colour photocopier, CPU and A4 size papers from their rented rooms in Machhapokhari.

On 10 February 2019, police raided two rented rooms in a house at Ganeshthan of Tokha  Munuicipality-10 and confiscated counterfeit Nepali currency notes worth  Rs 150,000. Four Bangladeshi nationals were held with fake Nepali currency notes having face value of Rs 18,000 from Lokanthali of  Bhaktapur on 23 December 2019.

Six persons were arrested with counterfeit Nepali currency notes having face value of Rs 26.06 million from different places of Kathmandu and Lalitpur on 15 May  2018. That was the biggest ever single seizure of fake Nepali banknotes in the country.

The racketeers used to circulate the fake banknotes through drug traders and various persons in their contact to pay hotel and restaurant bills and sex workers and for gambling. They circulated fake notes by tucking them between genuine ones, said a report of Metropolitan Police Range. The same year police had arrested five persons for allegedly printing and circulating fake Nepali banknotes in Kathmandu Valley.

Security personnel on 26 February 2018 had arrested five persons for printing and circulating fake Nepali banknotes in the valley. Fake notes worth Rs 22,000 were seized from them.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Hobindra Bogati at MPR said a meticulous observation was required to identify fake notes. Genuine note is felt rough when you run your fingers through it, but fake notes lack this feature. Generally, fake Nepali currency lack raised watermark, words and metallic thread — the permanent features of a genuine banknote.

MPR has appealed to all to be cautious while carrying out cash transactions. DSP Bogati said racketeers often circulated fake notes by tucking them between genuine ones during late hours of the day. The racketeers target unsuspecting shopkeepers and buy goods during evening, night and use fake notes to make payment.