Bank Note Press, Dewas official nabbed for stealing notes not ours, says RBI

The Reserve Bank of India stated it has not posted official posted at the Bank Note Press in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, after an official was apprehended by CISF here allegedly for stealing currency.

In a statement, the central bank said it has been reported in a section of the media that an RBI officer has been apprehended by CISF for stealing printed currency at the RBI printing facility at Dewas. However, the Bank Note Press (BNP), Dewas is a unit of the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL) which is not under the control of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), it said.

Further, RBI "does not have any official placed" with BNP, Dewas, it said. "The reports, thus, are not based on facts. RBI regrets to note that the facts were not verified before publishing the news reports," it added.

According to the reports, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) nabbed a senior officer by the name of Manohar Verma at the BNP facility allegedly stealing newly printed currency notes. Verma was the deputy control officer in the Note Verification section of the high-security press.

He was caught with Rs 200 currency notes worth Rs 40,000 hidden in his shoes. Currency notes worth about Rs 90 lakh were recovered from his possession which he reportedly stole over a period of time. The seized notes are believed to be the ones which were rejected due to minor defects.

These notes could be easily used in open markets as the defects are too minute to detect. Such notes are supposed to be disposed off inside the press and cannot be taken.