According to government estimates, there is Rs 400 crore of fake currency in circulation in the economy at any given point of time.

New Delhi: It may take Pakistani security agencies anything between one to two years to come out with fake currency notes of new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 denomination, owing to a number of safety features, said to be anything between 18 to 20, that have been introduced by the Reserve Bank.

Following the government’s demonetisation move last month, the Union home ministry had asked intelligence agencies to closely monitor its impact on circulation of fake Indian currency notes and terror funding. According to government estimates, there is Rs 400 crore of fake currency in circulation in the economy at any given point of time. Following the demonetisation, circulation of fake currency has been severely hit, intelligence agencies have informed the government.

According to a recent report on impact of demonetisation on FICN and terror funding, the Intelligence Bureau stated that by the time, which is almost two years, Pak agencies are able to fine tune production of new Indian currency security agencies, particularly in states, should enhance their capacity to deal with menace even in the long run.

The intelligence agency, in its report, has also advised that the RBI should once again review the safety features in the Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes and introduce new or change some of them following the duration that it suspects the Pak agencies will take to develop counterfeit currency.

“The demonetisation drive is a great opportunity to completely remove menace of fake currency. According to our estimate, it will take close to two years for ISI and its terror operatives to develop good quality fakes. So by the time they develop the expertise for the same, the RBI should introduce new features and then it should make it a routine exercise,” a senior intelligence official said.

Sources said, in the same report, the intelligence agencies have once again flagged the issue of Naxal groups that were pressurising “local village committees, panchayats and bank branches in rural areas” to convert their old currency.

“The Naxal outfits are forcing villagers through panchayats and other local bodies to deposit old currency in their accounts so that it can be converted into new. The State Branch of local police in Naxal infested States should launch a special drive to check this,’’the report further adds.