Senior citizen robbed of Rs 47,000 in defunct cash

A senior citizen was allegedly robbed of Rs 47,000 outside a bank where he went to deposit money after the government demonetised old currency notes. Interestingly, the thief stole Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, which are now defunct.

The incident occurred around 1 pm on Thursday afternoon at the Mazgaon branch of ICICI bank. According to the Byculla police, the complainant Bharat Kumar Shinde (61), had gone to the branch to deposit money. “He had gone with Rs 1,80,000 in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes to be deposited in his branch. He was standing in the queue and trying to count the money when he was approached by a man who offered to help him,” said an official from Byculla police station. He added that Mr Shinde did not realise he had been duped till he reached the counter to deposit the money. “The man fled soon after slipping the money into his pocket,” he said.

The officer added that the police was trying to scan CCTV footage of the area. “Since the incident occurred outside, and there was a huge crowd at the scene of the crime, it is getting difficult to scan the footage,” he said.

The police has registered a first information report against an unidentified person and booked him under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code.