On Wednesday, sacks full of the high denomination notes were found abandoned in the town of Bareilly. And yesterday, a rag picker in Maharashtra found a trash bag packed with about Rs. 50,000 worth of the old-school currency.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the shock announcement that just hours later, at midnight, Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes would be illegal for transactions. Assuring that "your money is still yours", he said the old notes must be deposited in banks by the end of the year.
The initiative to erode the vast circulation of untaxed or black money has been welcomed by experts. Banks, however, are over-run with people desperate to get the new Rs. 500 and Rs. 2,000 notes. ATMs, which reopened today after a two-day gap during which they were meant to be prepped to dispense the new money, ran out of cash nearly immediately. Many simply did not work.
The Reserve Bank of India has urged patience, professing that enough money has been sent to banks across the country and that ATMs will be back to normal soon.
500, 1000 NOTES WORTH RS. 76 LAKH SEIZED FROM TOYOTA FORTUNER IN HIMACHAL
The Himachal Pradesh Police has seized Rs. 76 lakh from a Toyota Fortuner SUV in Mandi. The money confiscated were old notes of Rs. 500 and 1000 and wrapped in a gift pack.
The SUV was on its way from Manali towards Bilaspur on late on Thursday night when it was caught by the police. Two people have been arrested.
The two men arrested are employees of a Manali-based private firm and were allegedly trying to transport the money out of the state.
The company officials said they will approach authorities with valid papers and claim the money.
Rs. 500 and 1000 notes were banned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a surprise announcement on Tuesday, in the government's measure to curb black or illegal money. New, high security Rs. 500 and 2000 notes were introduced in circulation yesterday.
