Rats are blamed for eating away at rupee banknotes worth £13,300 inside an ATM.
Police said the rodents might have entered the machine through a hole meant for wiring, the Hindustan Times reported.
Bank officials detected the expensive invasion in Assam state following complain that the machine was defective and had stopped dispensing cash, police in Tinsukia district said.
“The bank officials came to check the ATM machine last week and found a dead rat and shredded banknotes when it was opened,” the district police superintendent, Mugdhajyoti Dev Mahanta, said.
“We’ve checked and there is no other criminal or conspiracy angle to the incident. It looks like the rats entered the machine through a small opening for some wires.”
Images of the masticated cash at the State Bank of India branch in Tinsukia district were extensively shared on Twitter.
Police official Prakash Sonowal stated that the machine had been out of action for approximately 12 days, the Hindustan Times added.
Technicians who took the unit apart found the ATM filled with torn and shredded 500 and 2,000 rupee notes. They managed to salvage another 1.7m rupees, officials said.
> Shiuly Rina
