Termites eat up crores of rupees in Uttar Pradesh bank

In a bizarre incident, termites ate up currency notes running into crores of rupees at a State Bank of India (SBI) branch in Fatehpur (Barabanki district), about 30km from the state capital. However, officials investigating the matter have not ruled out foul play in the case.

Bank officials were aghast when they saw the mutilated notes on opening the strong room of the bank on Tuesday. Top SBI officials at Lucknow were notified immediately and an inquiry team of senior bank officials landed at the bank soon afterwards to investigate the matter. The exact extent of the loss was not known as the notes had been damaged badly.

SBI AGM Geeta Tripathi, who headed the inquiry team said the RBI was also apprised of the matter. She refused to say who was responsible for the lapse. She said prima facie it appeared that the notes in the currency chest had been damaged by termites.

Chief accounts officer OP Dwivedi who was officiating as branch manager said that the bank was housed in a very old building which was ridden with termites. “We have been trying our best to keep currency notes safe but the termite problem here is so enormous that it would be better to move the branch elsewhere,” he said.

However, sources say the police are looking into the possibility of foul play. An official looking into the case said the damage to the notes was known to the bank staff much earlier but the bank’s top brass were kept in the dark.

“The matter has surfaced after the transfer of the branch manager. We are looking at this angle, too,” the official said, adding that the outgoing manager would be questioned soon.