‘Currency’ in scrap sent to forensic lab

BAREILLY: A pile of shredded pieces of what appeared to be currency notes, some of them burnt, were recovered from

Parsakheda area

under CB Ganj police station on Wednesday after locals informed police about it. Police have

confiscated the scrap

and sent

samples to the forensic department

for further investigation to ascertain if the

currency is fake

.

Speaking with TOI, inspector general (Bareilly zone) Vijay Singh Meena said, “It appeared fake in the first place. But to avoid any iota of doubt we have sent the sample to the forensics lab.”

Sources told TOI said that the scrap consisted of currency notes resembling Rs 10, Rs 50, Rs 100 and Rs 500 denominations. “It barely resembled currency notes. Moreover why would anyone burn notes with denominations of Rs 10, Rs 50 and Rs 100 when only Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 have been demonetized,” a source said

Speaking with TOI, superintendent of police, city, Sameer Saurabh said, “Initial investigation suggested that the scrap was lying in the area for over 10 days. It suddenly caught fire following which a rumour spread like wildfire that someone is disposing of his/her black money.”

Rumours are also afoot that it was a ploy by rivals of a prominent industrialist here to dump the scrap of fake currency notes in front of his factory and instigate rumours on burning of black money after government's crackdown through demonetization.

"There are several discreet ways for an industrialist to dispose of his black money. Burning of currency notes in the open would possibly be the last option in his mind,” said a local resident of CB Ganj.

Meanwhile, a probe has been ordered into the incident while no case has been registered. “The currency scrap has been sent to the forensic lab to ascertain if it was fake or real. We can't take call on the currency notes being fake or real pending investigation,” said senior superintendent of police (SSP) Jogendra Kumar.

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