Nearly $18,000 In Cash Shredded By Rat Inside ATM

Police say at least one rat slipped through a hole in the back of an ATM in northeastern India and started eating. By the time it finished, more than $19,000 in bills were shredded.

The police superintendent in the town of Tinsukia, Mugdha Jyoti Mahanta, says that when technicians arrived June 11 to fix a broken State Bank of India cash machine they found a dead rat inside it and Indian currency notes worth nearly 1.3 million rupees, or nearly $18,000, chewed to shreds. The rat had entered the ATM through a small hole for cables.

A bank employee said Friday an investigation has been ordered.