Lucknow, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is scanning seven more branches of the State Bank of India (SBI) after fake notes with a face value of Rs.10 million were recovered from the currency chest of its Domariyaganj branch in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Officials said an RBI team is scanning branches where the money was supplied from the Domariyaganj branch.

Bank manager Dashrath Cirgainya said the currency chest had about Rs.1.84 billion and the bank branch supplies cash to smaller branches of the district and the neighbouring districts.

The RBI team raided the bank Aug 4 after the arrest of its cashier Sudhakar Tripathi.

Tripathi Thursday confessed to the police that he had exchanged fake currency of nominal value of Rs.15 million with the original ones in the bank's currency chest.

The scam being probed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police was Saturday recommended to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

A CBI official confirmed that the agency would start investigation as soon as it receives an official request from the Uttar Pradesh government.

"Looking at the intensity of the case, a joint director rank official is likely to probe the case," a CBI source confirmed.

The SIT team led by Superintendent of Police Anil Kumar met RBI officials Saturday.

"The SIT will carry on the investigations until the CBI takes over the case," Kumar said.

The police officials fear a fake currency racket involving a staggering Rs.500 million might be thriving in the regions of Uttar Pradesh bordering Nepal.

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