Chikkamagaluru: A customer duped an onion merchant of Rs 2,000 by paying him a fake newly released Rs 2,000 currency note at a shop at the APMC yard in Chikkamagaluru on Saturday morning.
Around 5.30 am, a customer approached Ashok’s shop at the AMPC yard and purchased onions worth Rs 2,000 and paid the amount to the worker before leaving. Ashok was not at the shop and the worker accepted the note without checking.
Later when Ashok arrived at the shop, the worker gave him the earnings for the day. Ashok got suspicious as the note was thicker than the regular one, its borders were damaged and security features were not clearly visible.
Ashok showed the note to one of his friends. After a thorough examination, they found that the customer had palmed off a coloured photocopy of the Rs 2,000 currency note.
The matter was brought to the notice of the police and Chikkamagaluru SP Annamalai said they would look into the case.
Scared traders say no to new notes
One of the major reasons for introducing new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 currency notes was to fight counterfeit notes. But on Saturday, the social media was abuzz with rumours that fake Rs 2,000 denomination notes were being circulated in the city. The scared traders refused to accept the new notes, putting people into a lot of hardship.
According to pictures circulated in the social media, a few miscreants were found trying to circulate fake Rs 2,000 notes. First complaint was registered by a vegetable vendor from Chikkmagaluru Asok on Saturday. The police, however, confirmed that it was not a counterfeit note, but just a colour photocopy of the newly introduced Rs 2,000 note.
Many people said that traders in the city were rejecting Rs 2,000 notes. Ms Shyamala Bhat, a resident of Malleswaram, said that when she gave the note after purchasing LED bulbs, the shop owner politely refused it saying he was not aware of the features of the new notes and he was only being cautious in not accepting it. “The government should create awareness on these new notes and their features,” she said.
