Hyderabad: On Sunday afternoon, people gathered under the Attapur Bridge near Rajendra Nagar. They were looking for bags of abandoned cash reportedly thrown by a car driver minutes ago. As the crowd became bigger and as vehicle movement got hit, someone informed the police, and they soon reached the place. The cops dispersed the crowd. The police team also searched the area thoroughly and found nothing.

On Saturday evening, another crowd created a block on Warangal highway. A large number of people gathered near the Central Power Research Institute (CPRI) in Medipally. A police team had to be dispatched to disperse the crowd. People searched for cash bags thrown by someone from a car, but they could not find anything. Similar incidents took place in other parts of the city in the last three days after the Centre demonetised high-value currency notes. Rumours about abandoned bundles of demonetised currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 are the new headache for the police. Anonymous people are also calling police stations and emergency numbers to ‘inform’ about abandoned stash. But the information always proves wrong.

“In Attapur, someone standing on the bridge shouted to passersby that a man threw bags under the bridge and drove away. People then started looking for cash. The man, who spread the rumour disappeared by the time police came there,” a police officer said. At Medipally, a rumour spread in a nearby village and people gathered. “Seeing the crowd, motorists stopped and joined the search,” said inspector K. Jaganath Reddy. The police does not know who spread the rumour. Police said that it was very easy to fool crowds as there is a notion that stash holders might abandon cash. People hope to get the abandoned cash and exchange it in bank.