As soon as Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded his 'surprise' address to the nation on the television, jewellery market in Ahmedabad and parts of Gujarat witnessed heavy rush with people bringing currency notes of 500, 1,000 denominations to en-cash for gold coins or jewellery.

Amid heavy demand, in-person and over the phone, some of the jewellers in Ahmedabad resorted to artificially jacking up the prices of the yellow metal. Gold jewellery were sold at a premium of as high as Rs 34,000 per 10 grams, as against the prevailing prices of around Rs 30,900.

"The announcement from the Prime Minister came as a surprise. We never imagined 500, 1000 notes to be abolished. There were some cash in the family. I thought it a better option to buy gold from these notes before they become worthless," said Alpesh Mehta (name changed) a resident of Jodhpur Gam in Ahmedabad, who bought about 100 plus grams of gold in total.

"There was a gold rush in late night hours at some pockets in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot towns. Not all the jewellers were operational but only limited showrooms were open. The prices increased because demand surpassed the available stock," said Shantibhai Patel, leading jeweller and former president of Ahmedabad Bullion Association.

Estimates suggest in the four hours of November 8 night, an average jeweller sold in the range of 500 gms to a few kilograms of gold in coin or jewellery.

The jewellery shops, which acted as the currency exchange points, remained opened past midnight, the cut-off time for the legal validity of the 500 and 1000 bills.

"We kept receiving calls from some of our regular customers to book gold for them. But looking at the uncertain scenario, we preferred they come personally and take the possession of the gold," said a jeweller in Satellite area requesting not to be named.

Fearing police crackdown or other legal implications, some jewellers transacted with their shutters down.

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