NEW DELHI: Indian police on Thursday said rats nibbled through more than a million rupees of banknotes after busting into a cash machine in the country’s northeast.

The rodent heist in Assam state was only detected by bank officials after locals complained that the ATM was faulty and had stopped dispensing cash, police in Tinkusia district said.

“The bank officials came to check the ATM machine last week and found a dead rat and shredded banknotes when it was opened,” said district police superintendent Mugdhajyoti Dev Mahanta.

“We’ve checked and there is no other criminal or conspiracy to angle to the incident. It looks like the rats entered the machine through a small opening for some wires,” he said.

The rats munched through an estimated 1.2 million rupees ($18,000) worth of hard currency, local media reported. Images showed an upended ATM filled with torn and shredded 500 and 2000 rupee bills.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2018