Chaos prevailed in Hyderabad's Medipally area after rumours spread in the area about a large pile of cash abandoned on the road, which led to a traffic jam near the Central Power Research Institute (CPRI) on Saturday.
The Warangal highway, which passes through the area, saw a large number of locals gathering near the road to search for the 'abandoned' cash.
"A rumour spread that someone had abandoned piles of cash on the roadside and drove away. The people started gathering at the spot. Vehicles passing by on the road stopped and drivers also started searching the area. It led to a traffic block,” Deccan Chronicle quoted a source from Medipally as saying.
The police was soon informed, and they arrived on the spot to disperse the people that had gathered.
Other reports stated that police personnel had to abandon their vehicles at a distance due to the crowd, and intervene and regulate traffic to bring back order on the road.
This occurred on the same day that rumours of salt and sugar shortage caused people in parts of Hyderabad to panic.
There was panic buying of the two essential items in the old city and some other parts of Hyderabad after rumours spread over social media.
People mobbed shops late Friday night and Saturday morning to buy salt and sugar.
Traders exploited the situation in a few places to sell the packed salt powder at Rs 80-100 per kg against the actual price of Rs 17.
The price of sugar was reportedly doubled to Rs 80.
IANS Inputs