Mumbai:
Staff at the railway-run Jagjivanram Hospital, who called a locksmith to get a key made for a locker that had stayed unopened for years, could not have possibly predicted that they would hit upon a treasure trove.
Currency notes started pouring out from the locker as soon as the locksmith opened its door and they made a pile so high that three people took more than six hours to count the money.
While the Railways has officially pegged the amount of the unexpected bounty at Rs 13.89 lakh, staff present at the spot said it was at least Rs 1 crore.
"The locker had stayed unopened for a few years and one of the nurses said she wanted to use it. We called a locksmith and everybody was shocked at what we found inside. Money started pouring out of it as soon as the door was opened," said a staff member.
"I saw the money on the ground as well as bundles inside the locker and it was easily a few crores. Some bundles were kept in a black polythene bag while others were wrapped in a hospital bedsheet.
When the money was being counted in the afternoon, I heard that they had counted up to Rs 80 lakh already."
However, a Western Railway (WR) spokesperson said, "The denominations were small. There were 50- and 100-rupee notes and even some coins. Some of the notes had white ants on them."
"The amount should have gone directly to the railways. It is sad that so much money was left to rot here," said Dr A K Vyas, medical director, Jagjivanram Hospital.
Sharat Chandrayan, chief PRO, WR, said, "A high-level inquiry is being conducted by senior railway officials. The money will now be in the railways' custody."
Alpana Kilawala, chief general manager of the Reserve Bank of India's Department of Communication, said, "It is not necessary that white ants will only be present on notes kept in one place for a long time. If the shelf or building is old, white ants could have already been there."
Currency notes started pouring out from the locker as soon as the locksmith opened its door and they made a pile so high that three people took more than six hours to count the money.
While the Railways has officially pegged the amount of the unexpected bounty at Rs 13.89 lakh, staff present at the spot said it was at least Rs 1 crore.
"The locker had stayed unopened for a few years and one of the nurses said she wanted to use it. We called a locksmith and everybody was shocked at what we found inside. Money started pouring out of it as soon as the door was opened," said a staff member.
"I saw the money on the ground as well as bundles inside the locker and it was easily a few crores. Some bundles were kept in a black polythene bag while others were wrapped in a hospital bedsheet.
When the money was being counted in the afternoon, I heard that they had counted up to Rs 80 lakh already."
However, a Western Railway (WR) spokesperson said, "The denominations were small. There were 50- and 100-rupee notes and even some coins. Some of the notes had white ants on them."
"The amount should have gone directly to the railways. It is sad that so much money was left to rot here," said Dr A K Vyas, medical director, Jagjivanram Hospital.
Sharat Chandrayan, chief PRO, WR, said, "A high-level inquiry is being conducted by senior railway officials. The money will now be in the railways' custody."
Alpana Kilawala, chief general manager of the Reserve Bank of India's Department of Communication, said, "It is not necessary that white ants will only be present on notes kept in one place for a long time. If the shelf or building is old, white ants could have already been there."
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