SAHARANPUR: A cash shortfall of Rs 4.36 lakh in a remittance sent to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has led to the discovery of an alleged Rs 7.4 crore counterfeit currency racket inside a Punjab National Bank (PNB) currency chest in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur, prompting police to investigate whether bank insiders helped replace genuine notes with fake ones.Police have registered an FIR against bank officials and private individuals, while a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to probe how genuine currency worth Rs 7.4 crore allegedly disappeared from the vault and was replaced with counterfeit notes.The fraud came to light after a cash remittance dispatched to the RBI on Aug 10 was found to be short by Rs 4.36 lakh, according to PNB chief deputy manager Nisha Singh. The discrepancy prompted a detailed audit, during which investigators allegedly uncovered a large quantity of counterfeit currency in the bank’s money vault.“The inquiry is in progress, and once we have complete details and evidence against everyone involved, the findings will be made public. The final tally of fake currency is still being verified as counting continues,” Singh said.The FIR was registered at Sadar police station on a complaint filed by PNB nodal officer Arun Kumar Chaubey. It names senior divisional manager Ravi Kumar and currency chest managers Sushil Sharma and Amit Kumar as primary suspects.In a parallel development, a separate report was filed against a housekeeper, Vishal Kumar, over what officials described as a “distinct cash shortfall” at the bank.Saharanpur DIG Abhishek said an SIT had been constituted to investigate the case and identify everyone involved in the alleged operation.“An SIT has been constituted and an FIR filed against those allegedly involved. Counting is in progress. Following a detailed inquiry, the embezzled currency will be recovered,” he said.Investigators are now examining bank transaction records, audit ledgers and CCTV footage from the currency chest to determine how the counterfeit notes allegedly entered the heavily secured vault and whether the operation involved insiders.The SIT is also trying to establish when the genuine currency was allegedly replaced, how long the counterfeit notes remained undetected and whether more people were involved in what investigators suspect could be a carefully planned operation.With the final count of counterfeit notes still under verification, the probe is expected to focus heavily on access to the currency chest and the movement of cash within the bank, as police attempt to unravel how an initial Rs 4.36 lakh discrepancy exposed an alleged Rs 7.4 crore currency swap.