Alert vendor in Ahmedabad nabs man with counterfeit notes

AHMEDABAD: An alert vendor near Bhadra fort caught a 24-year-old man who was trying to palm off a fake Rs 1,000 note as genuine. Wajid Ahmed Mansuri caught the accused Rampal Premlal Chauhan, a native of Fatehgadh in Punjab, and handed him over to the Karanj police. The cops recovered four fake notes of Rs 1,000 denomination from Chauhan.
According to police, on Monday evening, Chauhan went to shop at Bhadra market and purchased a cap worth Rs 125 from Waqar Sheikh.He gave Rs 1,000 note to pay for the cap. Sheikh didn’t have change for Rs 1,000 so Chauhan suggested he would purchase more items from other vendors and then pay him.
Chauhan then bought glares worth Rs 200 from Yusuf Memon. But Memon, too didn’t have change . So Chauhan bought two belts worth Rs 245 from a nearby vendor. Then he suggested that the vendor should return him change after deducting what he owed to all the three vendors.
The vendors asked Mansuri, who had a stall nearby, for change which he luckily had. However, out of habit, Mansuri checked the genuineness of the note. “While checking, Mansuri noticed that the colour from the note had been transferred to his fingers,” cops said.
Meanwhile, Chauhan wandered off without waiting for the change. This made vendors suspicious. “The vendors confronted Chauhan who offered another Rs 1,000 note. But this too turned out to be fake,” said officials. So, Mansuri handed him over to Karanj police.
Karanj police sub-inspector P A Zala said, “Primary investigations have revealed that Chauhan has an accomplice. The case has been handed over to Special Operation Group for further investigation.”
Cops are checking whether Chauhan has any links to the fake currency rackets. Recently ATS had arrested five people and busted a fake currency racket.