A panic-like situation prevailed among residents of Kalaburagi city since last night following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sudden announcement of demonetisation of curreny notes of Rs. 500 and Rs.1000 denomination.
Anxious people were seen mobbing ATMs and petrol bunks to make the best use of the banned currency notes and withdraw or deposit money. There were unconfirmed reports of people disposing of Rs.1,000 currency at lesser denominations. Jewellery shops did a brisk business. Some jewellery shops in the Saraf Bazaar area kept their shutters open throughout the night on Tuesday and continued to sell precious metal on Wednesday.
At several filling stations, workers accepted Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes and asked customers to use the remaining amount to fill their tanks later. In some bunks they refused to accept the bigger notes and forced customers to pay through cards. Apprehensive of accepting bigger notes, some commercial establishments including petrol bunks remained closed.
