Chennai: Bundles of shredded demonitised 500 and 1000 rupee currency notes found on a truck that brought cement sheets to a hardware store at Vaniyambadi near Vellore caused a flutter early Saturday and brought a posse of policemen to investigate. Shop owner Syed Aslam was stunned when one of the four large cloth sacks, loaded on the truck to support the cement sheets and prevent their breaking, tore and the shredded currency poured out.
His staff quickly checked the other bags too only to find they all were packed with shredded 500 and 1000 rupee notes. “Police came to check this out and I gave them the details of the supplier of the cement sheets at Gummidipoondi. They phoned him and found out the truth about these shredded notes. I am relieved”, Aslam told DC.
When contacted, a police official at Vaniyambadi said the Gummidipoondi supplier explained that the shredded currency was obtained in a tender sale from the Nasik government press (where the Reserve Bank prints the currency notes) and there was nothing improper or illegal about it. The shredded notes were used for packing into the cushioning bundles for transporting cement sheets because it’s much cheaper than jute or cotton traditionally used for such purpose, the trader told the cops. “Satisfied with his explanation, we decided to ignore this incident”, the police officer said.
