We live in the age of fake news, propaganda and misinformation. The internet – that is a treasure trove of information and knowledge – is also used to peddle false information on an hourly basis. But fake news is not always political in nature, and a group of robbers in Delhi learnt this the hard way.

Well not entirely.

They fell for a rumour that dates back to the early days of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s controversial demonetisation drive. What was the rumour — and proven hoax? That Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 notes introduced by the Modi government would come with what was described as a “micro nano GPS chip” that would supposedly be able to help track individual notes by way of satellites.

Of course, anyone with half a mind would have spotted this for fake news, or at least questioned its veracity, but unfortunately, a few media houses did run the story before quietly retracting it to avoid shame (although that was unavoidable).

Taking this rumour seriously, months after it was disproved, the three robbers allegedly stole lakhs of rupees from a bank only in coins to avoid getting caught.

Slow claps.

According to The Hindustan Times, the three robbers, who were contractual employees (cleaners and storekeepers) at a Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus depot, were arrested on August 22 evening, 12 hours after they robbed a Syndicate Bank branch in north Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar.

The robbers – who were caught with Rs 2.3 lakh in Rs 5 and Rs 10 coins – told the police they had planned to sneak away with the coins because they believed notes could be tracked down. Credit where it’s due, the robbers also thought coins would cause less suspicion among money exchangers and shops — and help avoid detection.

“They said stealing banknotes, especially the Rs 2,000 notes, was not their plan at all as they believed that notes could be tracked through chips or GPS after demonetisation. So, they decided to steal all the coins instead,” a police official told HT.

The police added that the three men had planned the robbery after watching crime thrillers and heist films.

“They were unable to carry all the packets containing the heavy coins. So, they hid most of the coins under an empty white sack and carried along only five packets which contained roughly Rs 10,000,” the officer said, adding much of the Rs 10,000 was used by the suspects to buy ganja and smack.

As they say, no one is safe from fake news. Not politicians, not the media and definitely not bank robbers.

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