Rats Reportedly Destroy Rs. 12 Lakh At Assam ATM, Twitter Can't Keep Calm
NEW DELHI: A bizarre incident in Assam has caught at the attention of Twitter and left many shocked. According to several reports, a State Bank of India (SBI) branch ATM in Assam's Tinsukia district bore the wrath of rodents that left currency notes worth Rs. 12 lakh completely destroyed. Pictures of the shredded notes inside the ATM have left Twitter stunned. While many expressed their shock over the incident, several others tried to make sense of the weird incident.
Following a technical failure, the SBI ATM in Laipuli area - still containing cash - had been out of order since May 20, reports Indian Express. A day before, a private security firm had deposited Rs. 500 and Rs. 2,000 notes amounting Rs. 29.48 lakh, reports The Hindu.
On June 11, when technicians arrived to fix the ATM, they found currency notes of Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 500 torn to pieces. The overall cash destroyed by the rats amounted to Rs. 12,38,000, reports the newspaper. Undamaged currency notes amounting to Rs. 17.10 lakh were recovered from the ATM.
Local journalist Nandan Pratim Sharma Bordoloi tweeted a video, believed to be from the same ATM. The video shows a dead rat laying in a pile of shredded notes.
The viral news forced HDFC Bank to tweet a clarification, saying the incident did not occur at one of their ATMs, as was suggested by some viral forwarded messages.
Twitterati are both amused and stunned at the strange incident.
"Looks like the mice are having a demonitisation of their own," says one Twitter user. "The money launderer's version of 'My dog ate my homework'," says another.
Tinsukia district Superintendent of Police, Mugdhajyoti Mahanta tells The Hindu the maintenance company had called its engineer from Kolkata to repair the ATM. "When the engineer and other officials opened the ATM on June 11, they found destroyed notes and also found a dead mouse inside the ATM," The Hindu quotes Mr Mahanta as saying.
A police complaint has been filed and the incident is currently under investigation, according to several reports.