KADAPA: High drama a couple of months ago, over alleged fake currency notes surfacing from the ATM of State Bank of India's main branch turned out to be a `hoax' with Currency Note Press at Nasik, upholding the authenticity of 57 notes of Rs. 500 denomination remitted to it for verification.

Deputy Works Manager of Currency Note Press M.P. Dhande wrote a letter to Kadapa First Additional Junior Civil Judge to this effect after examining 57 notes of Rs. 500 despatched to it by Kadapa One Town police, V. Narayanaswamy Reddy, Circle Inspector Kadapa (West) told mediapersons here. The bank officials of SBI, main branch had rejected the notes as `forged ones' and also stamped some of them with `forged note impounded' seals, he added.

Course of events

Retracing the course of events, the CI said a TDP leader L. Madhusudana Reddy complained to Kadapa One Town police on February 8, that he received seven fake Rs. 500 notes out of the total amount of Rs. 5,000 drawn by him from the SBI main branch ATM. SBI officials lodged a counter complaint stating that the said notes were forged ones but not drawn from the ATM. This triggered off a scare. The BSNL, registration and treasury offices put up signboards about not accepting Rs. 500 notes, he explained.

As several shop-keepers also refused to accept notes of Rs. 500 denomination, Mr. Narayanaswamy Reddy had to send two decoys to draw Rs. 25,000 from that ATM. On verifying the notes, bank officials ruled that three of the Rs. 500 notes were fake. Thereafter, the CI ascertained with bank officials on the mode to detect fake notes and verified the entire cash stacked in the ATM within one night.

Case registered

With bank and police officials suspecting that the money stacked in the ATM contained 47 fake Rs. 500 notes, the police registered a case and sent the notes to the Currency Note Press for verification, the inspector explained. However, it was clarified and confirmed by the press, that all 57 notes, suspected to be fake, were not so. Mr. Narayanaswamy Reddy opined that some SBI officialsmust have committed a mistake in assessing the genuine from fake due to lack of experience.

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