Fake notes in circulation in Malenadu
Small scale traders become soft target
Chikkamagaluru: As the fake notes are in circulation in Malenadu, fraudsters are targeting innocent traders and poor hawkers by paying fake notes of Rs. 500 against purchase of goods from them.
One such incident was reported near Heruru village in Koppa taluk on Saturday night.
A handicapped man had a coffee and tea shop in a make shift on the roadside of Chikkamagaluru-Sringeri highway near Herur village. When his wife and daughter were closing the shop on Saturday night, two unidentified persons approached them. The men purchased cigarette and other items worth Rs 400 and gave a note of Rs. 500.
The shop owner told Vartha Bharati that his daughter compared the 500 note with the one she already had. She then realised that the note given by the customer was fake. When she called the men to inform them that their note was fake, they did not pay heed to her call and escaped from there.
The innocent hawker has submitted the fake note at Balehonnur police station on Sunday.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
