BENGALURU:  A 27-year-old’s luck ran out on Sunday after days of splurging fake Rs 2,000 notes. He had made the fake notes at a photo studio with the help of a friend. The youth, Tejaram, a resident of LR Lane in Chickpet, who works in a garment store, bought mainly beer and some valuables, until the cashier of a bar realised that the notes were fake on Sunday.

When asked to pay using another note, Tejaram allegedly tried to escape. Beat police constables noticed people chasing a youth and swung into action, and caught Tejaram. The incident occurred at a bar at Shanthala Circle in Majestic at at 5.45 pm on Sunday. Tejaram had ordered two bottles of beer with the fake note. Suspecting the note was fake, cashier Raju inspected it closely. Tejaram pulled out another note, but instead of handing it over, he ran away.

Tejaram was caught by constables of Cottonpet police station. On checking his pocket, police found four more fake notes. The police took him to the station and interrogated him. Tejaram then revealed that he had watched videos on social media to learn how to make fake Rs 2,000 notes, and decided to try his luck. He discussed this with his friend Akash, who owns the photo studio.  The duo downloaded the image of the note and took printouts.

The police took a complaint from cashier Raju, and also arrested Akash at his studio. They also seized the printer used, five fake notes, and the system used to download the images. An officer said, “The duo could have been circulating fake notes for a while, we are yet to ascertain how many.”