An army of termites munched through 10 million rupees (£137,000) in currency notes stored in a steel chest at a bank, police in northern India said yesterday.
The bank manager discovered the damage when he opened the reinforced room in an old bank building on Wednesday.
"It's a matter of investigation how termites attacked bundles of currency notes stacked in a steel chest," said Navneet Rana, a police officer.
The money was put in the chest in January. Termites had damaged bank furniture and documents in the past.
The police have registered a case of negligence against bank officials in Barabanki, a town 20 miles southwest of Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh state capital.
In India, police register a case before opening an investigation.
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