New Delhi, Dec 31 (DHNS): The Rs 2,000 note is in existence for just about a year but counterfeiters have not lost any time in faking it.

Police across the country have seized around 38,000 fake notes in the past one year with Gujarat topping the list.

The speed with which the fake currency racket started printing counterfeit Rs 2,000 notes can be gauged from the fact that authorities seized 3,199 such notes within 50 days of its existence - between November 9, 2016, when it was introduced and December 31, 2016.

Official statistics show that 34,728 fake notes with a face value of Rs 2,000 each were seized in the first 11 months of this year, with Gujarat topping the list for both the years.

While 6,397 notes were seized in Gujarat since demonetisation was announced on November 8 last year, the Northeastern state of Mizoram had a seizure of 5,827 notes followed by Uttar Pradesh (5,243), West Bengal (2,876) and Kerala (2,648).

Karnataka also finds a spot in the top ten list with a ranking of nine. Police seized 1,831 such notes, including 255 in the first 50 days of the introduction of the notes.

Officials said the seized fake notes of Rs 2,000 and other denominations are of "low quality, such as scanned or photocopies of genuine notes".

Another interesting point is the continuing seizure of Rs 1,000 notes, which were rendered illegal after demonetisation. This year 66,284 notes of Rs 1,000 denomination have been seized, with Delhi (40,363) and Gujarat (22,515) topping the list.

Overall, police seized 2.66 lakh fake notes of various denominations, which has a face value of Rs 18.80 crore, till this November.

The statistics for the first 11 months itself has crossed the 2016 figures on face value. While the number of notes seized was higher at 2.90 lakh for the whole of 2016, the face value was lesser at Rs 16.55 crore.