Sacks of shredded notes found in mine-rich Bellary

Bangalore, Jun 13: Bellary, known for its pregnant mining revenue witnessed a crass spectacle when as many as 300 to 400 bags of shredded and crushed currency notes were recovered from a plywood factory. The plywood manufacturing firm Shri Krishna Frameworks' owner received the 'scrap' after he bought around three tonnes of the same from Indore through some deluxe trading corporation.

The police stated that the currency notes looked intentionally crushed and shredded after they carried out raids in the premises of the factory on Wednesday morning. A team of Karnataka police personnel will be travelling to Indore to ascertain the legality of the notes. SSP A Sai Manohar from Indore stated that the team from Karnataka will question proprietor of Raj Industries in Manik Bagh, who is understood to have supplied the scrap to the Bellary firm.

Officials from Reserve Bank of India, however, stated that the damaged currency notes are only sold to licensed firms. Somshekhar from the Bellary rural police station added, "Whether the firm from where the junk was purchased has a valid licence or not is an issue of investigation."

Reports have pegged the value of the currency at Rs 4 crore, but the value could be much higher considering the number of bags seized. The plywood factory owner claimed innocence stating that he had brought scrap and was not aware that there were currency notes involved.

It can be recalled that earlier Rs 4 crore worth of currency was burnt by mining goons to prevent it from being seized. There were also reports that a similar large stash of currency was dumped in a canal when the CBI and the Lokayukta was investigating the mining riches of the Reddy Brothers in Bellary.

OneIndia News