Currency notes worth more than Rs 12 lakh deposited in a State Bank of India ATM in Assam’s Tinsukia district were allegedly destroyed by mice, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday. The bank has filed a First Information Report with the Tinsukia police.
The automated teller machine, located in Laipuli area, was not functioning since May 20, though a Guwahati-based financial company FIS: Global Business Solutions had reportedly deposited Rs 29 lakh in it the previous day.
On June 11, the bank appointed repairmen to fix the machine. When they opened the machine, they found heaps of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes shredded into pieces.
An unidentified bank official told the newspaper that notes worth Rs 12,38,000 were found to be destroyed. “We [were] able to salvage about Rs 17 lakh,” a bank official said.
A local journalist questioned why the ATM was malfunctioning for such a long period. “May 20 to June 11 is a significant period of time for an ATM to be out of service,” The Indian Express quoted the journalist as saying. “People are suspicious as to why it took so long for the mechanics to arrive.”
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