Guwahati, Jun 19 (NIE): A different kind of demonetisation struck Assam’s Tinsukia district when mice allegedly tore to shreds notes worth Rs 12 lakhs inside an ATM belonging to the State Bank of India (SBI).
The SBI ATM (DFBK – 000196116) in Laipuli area has been shut due to technical failure since May 20. However, behind closed doors, unknown to the world, it was hosting an army of four-legged guests: Mice. On June 11, when a few repairmen visited the outlet to get the machine fixed, they were surprised to find heaps of 500 and 2,000 rupee notes shredded into tiny pieces.
According to bank officials, notes worth Rs 12,38,000 have been destroyed by the mice. A Guwahati-based financial company named FIS: Global Business Solutions, which runs the ATM, had reportedly deposited Rs 29 lakhs inside the machine on May 19. “The ATM had stopped working the following day,” a local Tinsukia-based journalist confirmed.
“We have been able to salvage about Rs 17 lakhs,” a bank official confirmed to a local news channel on Monday morning.
Many, however, still express doubts over what really happened inside the kiosk.
The government lender has lodged an FIR with Tinsukia police to probe the incident. “May 20 and June 11 is a significant period of time for an ATM to be out of service. People are suspicious as to why it took so long for the mechanics to arrive,” the journalist, who first heard about the destruction through a Whatsapp forward, said.
With lakhs being shredded under mysterious circumstances, it is not surprising that everybody smells a rat.