When a man in Damoh in Madhya Pradesh went to withdraw cash from a State Bank of India ATM, little did he know that he was in for a shock. The Rs 500 currency notes that he received from the ATM were without any serial number. Narayan Ahirwal, a school teacher by profession, had withdrawn Rs 1,000 from his account on Monday where the two notes that he received did not have serial numbers.
“How’s it possible?”, he showed the notes to others while stepping out from the SBI ATM near government hospital in Damoh.
This was not just a one-off thing. Another Damoh resident Sanjay Asati who was also in the line after Narayan Ahirwal outside the ATM also withdrew Rs 500. The currency note that he got also did not bear the serial number. The incident led to an uproar among residents of the area. Police was called in and ATM was sealed for some time.
“I went to the nearest SBI branch, about a km away from ATM, and showed the notes to the officials but they refused to exchange them,” Narayan said.
This is not the first time that such an incident has taken place in Damoh. Four such cases have happened including the two on Monday, in just one week.
