NIA arrests PNB manager as probe into ₹17.29 crore counterfeit notes expands

The National Investigation Agency arrested Amit Kumar, the manager of the Jagadhri currency chest, following the recovery of counterfeit Indian currency valued at ₹17.29 crore from a Punjab National Bank chest in Saharanpur’s Sofia Market area. Investigators say the fake notes were not seized from a courier or border point but were found inside the bank’s own vault, prompting questions about how they entered the official currency chain.

The probe now focuses on a possible wider network that may have moved the notes through legitimate banking channels, with particular attention to a suspected cross-border connection to Nepal, though no definitive link has been proven. Three PNB officials—senior divisional manager Ravi Kumar Kanse, Sofia Market chest manager Sushil Kumar, and Amit Kumar—have been suspended, and searches of their residences produced electronic evidence. The case, originally filed on August 29 under Section 178 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, was taken over by the NIA on September 3, and investigators are reconstructing the movement of ₹111 crore sent to the RBI’s Jaipur office on July 6 to pinpoint where the counterfeit notes entered the supply.