Several Shahjahanpur locals protested on Thursday after State Bank of India staffers refused to accept that their ATM had dispensed a scanned copy of a Rs 2,000 note, The Times of India reported. The allegations follow reports that fake Rs 2,000 notes were dispensed from a State Bank of India ATM in Delhi’s Sangam Vihar.
Shahjahanpur-based jeweller Arvind Gupta claimed the SBI ATM dispensed a scanned Rs 2,000 note when he withdrew Rs 10,000 from the machine. “One note, with serial number 5 DN 029593, was clearly counterfeit. The paper was not the type on which currency notes are printed. On exiting the ATM and holding the note up to the light, I could clearly see that it was not genuine and appeared to have been scanned from a genuine note and then printed,” Gupta told the English daily. He said four other people standing in the queue saw him withdraw the counterfeit note.
“We have received a complaint from Gupta that the ATM was dispensing counterfeit currency. We will investigate the matter when the branch re-opens on Monday,” said superintendent of police (rural) RK Bhartiya.
The bank manager JP Chandel has refuted Gupta’s allegations. “All the currency is refilled by our own staff. Gupta seems to have found just one note. Why would someone risk their job for just Rs 2,000? It seems to be an attempt to put some sort of pressure on the bank and its staff. I will definitely check the CCTV footage once the bank opens for work on Monday,” Chandel told the newspaper.
In the Delhi ATM case, officials had said they were investigating whether the notes reportedly, bearing a stamp from the “Children Bank of India” and several other flaws, were dispensed from the machine.
On November 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the Centre had decided to demonetise the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes to weed out corruption and black money from the market. New Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes were then issued.
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