ATM Cash worth INR 1.2 Million Eaten by Rat

In a branch of the State Bank of India (SBI) located in the town of Tinsukia in Assam state, a dysfunctional ATM machine was found to have been lightened of its load to the tune of roughly 19 lakh rupees, yesterday. It so happens that the ATM was out of order for a few days, but the cause of the issue was not known until technicians opened the machine. Inside the machine they discovered a dead rodent, and a large number of banknotes that were shredded to bits. It appears that in spite of security cameras being active all day long during this period, as well as prior to it, there was no detection of a rat ever entering the ATM during a review of the footage captured.

Originally, there was about 29 lakhs worth of money in the ATM, and 17 lakhs was able to be recovered unharmed by the rat. However, 12 lakhs was either partially consumed, or otherwise rendered unusable by the rodent which itself seems to have succumbed to its appetite for hard currency. Chandan Sharma, Branch Manager of the SBI branch in Tinsukia said that an investigation into how this came to pass was already under way, with a view towards preventing a recurrence of this incident. Most of the notes affected were of the 500-rupee and 2000-rupee denominations, and fragments of the grey and pinkish-purple banknotes were on display for reporters who arrived at the scene after learning about this most unlikely incident.