The police have arrested a 32-year-old man from Pulianthope who made photocopies of ₹2,000 currency note and made purchases at shops across the city and obtained original currency notes for remainder change.
According to the police, on Saturday, a man made purchases for ₹300 at a provision store run by Jayanthi at Subramaniam Nagar, Valasaravakkam.
He handed over a note with a face value of ₹2,000 and she returned ₹1,700 balance amount.
The man gave her two more notes and sought change.
“Ms. Jayanthi gave him four notes of ₹500 denomination and he started praising her. After he left the shop, she grew suspicious and checked all the notes he gave. All had the same serial number. Realising the con, she informed the Valasaravakkam police,” said M. Mahimaiveeran, Assistant Commissioner, Valsaravakkam.
Inspector T. Thangaraj and head constable Manikandan from Valasaravakkam station started searching for him using the image from the CCTV footage. He was spotted coming out of a shop in the same locality and the two caught him with the help of the public.
During inquiry, it was found that the accused was Iliyas, 32, from Pulianthope and was unemployed since February.
He learnt to make photocopies of currency notes through social media. “He purchased a machine from Ritchie Street and started making photocopies of ₹100. As he found it to be insufficient, he started using ₹2,000 notes,” said Mr. Mahimaiveeran.
