Chennai: Man with counterfeit notes caught by public

Chennai: A 26-year-old man from West Bengal who tried to buy two kgs of tomato and onion each from a woman push cart vender using a Rs 1,000 counterfeit note was caught red-handed by traders and local residents in Alandur on Tuesday afternoon.

A body search revealed he was carrying fake Indian currency notes with a face value of Rs 2.46 lakh. “He had 196 numbers of Rs 1,000 denomination notes and 100 numbers of Rs 500 denomination notes,” St Thomas Mount police station team, which rescued him from the angry mob which had tied him up, said. Police identified the man as Kariyudullah.

Police believe he could be a part of a network pushing counterfeit notes into circulation in metro cities of India. These notes are printed in Pakistan and smuggled through Bangladesh.

It all began when the man, after buying vegetables, handed over Rs 1,000 note to Lakshmi, a push cart vegetable vendor on Muthamji Street in Alandur. As she did not have change to tender, she went to a nearby shop seeking change. On looking at the note, the shopkeeper became suspicious. As the shopkeeper kept staring at Kariyudullah, the latter understood trouble was coming. He abandoned the vegetables and started running. But Lakshmi and a few others started following him and overpowered him.

The locals were shocked to find he was carrying fake currencies with a face value of Rs 2.46 lakh. After beating him up, the people tied him up and called the police. It was disclosed that he was staying with his associate Abdul Wahab, also from West Bengal in a hut in Hazarkhana. Though the police searched the place, they could not trace Abdul Wahab. Kariyudullah said he brought the notes from his native place from an agent on commission base.