Matters have reached such a pass that even genuine currency is not accepted, leading to arguments and sometimes scuffles at several places. There are reports of even booking clerks at reservation counters in RTC bus stands and railway stations refusing to accept the notes without an argument with travellers.

A note, stated to be fake, was noticed by a clerk of a nationalised bank, which has a branch at the Assembly premises. The issue figured during a discussion on the fake currency racket in the House a few days ago.

Meanwhile, a petrol pump owner lodged a complaint with the Banjara Hills police that on two occasions, fake notes have been palmed off to his staff, despite their reluctance to accept them. Some youths had their car filled with petrol and gave a Rs 500 note, which turned out to be fake. Another motoristtoo gave a note which was found to be fake.

A youth who boarded a bus at Imlibun to go to his native place in Medak district had a bitter experience. The conductor refused his Rs 500 note and forced him to alight at Jubilee bus station as he had no other currency with him.

Another apprehension haunting the public is that the police may initiate action against any individual found to be in possession of fake currency notes. A senior official of the Criminal Investigation Department, which is investigating the case, said the onus of proving innocence lay on the individual found to be in possession of such a note. "He should be able to convince the police that he has no links with the gang and should identify the source of the currency," the officer added.

The Reserve Bank of India was busy working out strategies to check the circulation of fake currency notes. M Janardhanam, deputy general manger (operations) of RBI told The Indian Express that the bank would release a circular in a day or two. Hehowever, refused to divulge details.

CID Additional DGP Bharat Chandra said the police would soon issue a notification in consultation with the RBI giving details on how the counterfeit currency appears and the means to identify it.

The city police have begun working out ways to check the menace. City police commissioner S R Sukumara told The Indian Express that a general alert has been sounded. "We are trying to get the numbers of the seized fake currency notes from Nizamabad," which would be publicised for the benefit of general public," he said.