BAHAWALNAGAR: The B Division police on Sunday booked a man and his two accomplices on charges of thrashing a salesman for refusing to accept fake currency and snatching cash from him at a filling station on Haroonabad Road.

The first information report (FIR) registered under sections 489 D, 506 and 379 of the Pakistan Penal Code says a motorcyclist, later identified as Umar of Mohallah Farooqabad, visited the Sultan Filling Station on March 29 and gave Rs1,000 to the salesman, Ali Minhas, asking for petrol worth Rs150.

The biker, however, went back when the salesman told him the currency note was fake, after checking it. Later, the biker, along with two other men, returned to the filling station, and started beating the salesman.

On intervention by other staffers of the filling station, the three suspects snatched Rs50,000 cash from Minhas and fled the scene, hurling threats at him.

The salesman, Ali Minhas, told Dawn that the incident was recorded by the CCTV cameras installed at the filling station. He says police were immediately informed of the incident and the video evidence, along with the fake currency note, were also handed over to them.

However, the police registered the FIR against the three suspects on Sunday, without making any arrest. The salesman complains that he is still facing threats from the suspects, who are pressurising him to make him withdraw the case.

About the reason for the delay in registration of the FIR, the B Division police claimed they were busy investigating the matter.

There have been reports of counterfeit currency notes of Rs500 and Rs1,000 circulating in the city and its surrounding areas for the past several days.

A police official said, “Counterfeit currency racketeers become more active near any major festival like Eid and try to use fake notes in busy business centres, including grocery and cloth shops, petrol pumps and cattle markets etc, mostly in the rush hours.”

He asked the citizens to be careful while accepting currency notes, especially from strangers. He also advised the business community to use devices to detect fake currency.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2023