Authorities say an army of termites have devoured 10 million rupees kept inside a bank chest in Uttar Pradesh, India.
Police say the rupees, which are worth about $222,000, were inside a steel chest. The bank manager discovered them missing Wednesday.
"It's a matter of investigation how termites attacked bundles of currency notes stacked in a steel chest," Navneet Rana, a police officer, told The Associated Press.
Police have registered the case as criminal negligence in order to begin an investigation against the bank officials in Barabanki, a town 20 miles southwest of the Uttar Pradesh state capital of Lucknow.
Officials said the money was put in the chest for safekeeping in January. The termites had damaged documents, furniture and other items in the bank building in the past.
Rupees Worth Millions Devoured by Termites in Bank
Apr 23, 2011, 08:53 by Nina Sen