Rats break into Indian ATM and eat cash worth £13,000
Shredded bank notes discovered after cash machine stops working in Assam state
Rats have eaten their way throughout more than 1m rupees of banknotes after entering a cash machine in north-east India.
Staff at the State Bank of India called technicians after the cash machine stopped working, according to Times of India.
District police superintendent Mugdhajyoti Dev Mahanta said bank officials checked the ATM last week only to find a “dead rat and shredded banknotes when it was opened”, The Guardian reports.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“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.”
The rats munched through an estimated 1.2m rupees (£13,300), local media reported. Images showed an upended ATM filled with shredded 500 and 2,000 rupee notes.
Police official Prakash Sonowal said that the machine had been out of action for about 12 days.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The bank “may have not found the incident funny but Twitter users definitely did”, says Metro. One amused Twitter user wrote: “Surgical strike by mice on ATM machine”. Another added: “Looks like the mice are having a demonetisation of their own”.
-
A long weekend in FontainebleauThe Week Recommends Less than an hour from Paris, this historic town is perfect for a short break
-
Political cartoons for December 16Cartoons Tuesday’s editorial cartoons include calibrating fonts, Christmas classics, and more
-
Cryptocurrency and the future of politicsIn The Spotlight From electoral campaigns to government investments, crypto is everywhere and looks like it’s here to stay
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Normalising relations with the Taliban in AfghanistanThe Explainer The regime is coming in from the diplomatic cold, as countries lose hope of armed opposition and seek cooperation on counterterrorism, counter-narcotics and deportation of immigrants
-
Pakistan: Trump’s ‘favourite field marshal’ takes chargeIn the Spotlight Asim Munir’s control over all three branches of Pakistan’s military gives him ‘sweeping powers’ – and almost unlimited freedom to use them
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
-
Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party