The Bangladesh Bank (BB) is aware of the problem taking a serious turn but uncertain about its magnitude, sources said. And the law enforcers deal with the forged note issue just as they do in case of other crimes.

According to the Currency Management and Accounts Department (CMAD) of the BB, around 1,900 cases of fake note were filed until April this year.

In Dhaka, 620 cases of forged note were lodged at Motijheel and 30 at Sadarghat until April.

Besides, 280 cases were filed in Chittagong, 410 in Khulna, 130 in Rajshahi and 104 in Sylhet and 295 in Bogra until March this year.

Law enforcers arrested a number of racketeers and unearthed sources of forged notes, but little progress was made in the cases filed. None was punished rightly, said a central bank official.

Making or circulating fake notes is a criminal offence for which a person may be sentenced to death under the Bangladesh Penal Code and the Special Powers Act, 1974.

Fake notes are mainly coming from a neighbouring country and also made locally using multicolour photocopiers. The locally made fake notes are inferior in quality and can be identified if seen carefully, an official said.

"The problem is not new and not only in Bangladesh. There are many countries facing such a problem. The question is how the problem is addressed. The problem could be under control if the law-enforcement agencies were active," said a top official of the CMAD.

Headed by the general manager of the CMAD and represented by officials of different ministries, a committee is in place to chalk out an action plan to address the fake note problem.

All district towns have similar committees. In the districts where the BB does not have its branch, Sonali Bank works as coordinator of such committees. A BB official said the role of such committees is in name only.

However, he added, the central bank continues its efforts to make people aware of how a fake note can be identified besides improving the security features of new notes.

Shopkeepers in Dhanmondi, Motijheel, Mirpur, Karwan Bazar and some other city areas said they get fake notes, mostly 500 and 100 taka ones, from many customers.

"Sometimes, I can identify fake notes. But the quality of some fake notes seems good and it is very difficult to identify those," a shopkeeper said.