Demonetization: Burnt old notes of Rs 500, 1000 found in Akola

Defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes were found shredded and burnt in Akola town in east Maharashtra, police said on Sunday. The incident occurred on Friday morning when some pieces of the scrapped currency notes were found burning in a lane near a housing society.

According to estimate, the pieces police salvaged after dousing fire are to the tune of Rs 58,000. "Police found some pieces of scrapped notes burning in a dustbin on Friday morning. A complaint against unknown person has been filed with Akola police," Additional Superintendent of Police, Akola, Vijaykant Sagar said.

Khadan police station inspector Gajanan Shelke said the notes are estimated to be worth Rs 58,000. "The notes were first cut into pieces and then burned," he added. He said a conservation worker spotted smoke in the service lane of Om Housing Society on Gorakshan road of Akola city and alerted locals. "On her alert, the locals called police who found that pieces of notes were burning at 2-3 locations in the same lane. The fire was put out and the remaining pieces were seized for investigation," Shelke said.

However, police are not sure if the notes were genuine. "It is not yet clear whether the abandoned notes are genuine or counterfeit. We will approach the appropriate authority and hand over the notes to them and seek their report. A complaint is filed with local police station regarding the same. We will investigate the matter further once we get some information about the currency notes," Sagar said.