Rata-looty: Rat steals Rs 13,000 cash from Kolkata grocery shop; caught on camera

The owner managed to recover Rs 12,700 intact from the rat’s hole.
Hatching a plot? Image used for representational purpose only. (File Photo)
Hatching a plot? Image used for representational purpose only. (File Photo)

KOLKATA: In a curious heist case, a rat stole Rs 13,000 from a grocery shop's cash drawer in East Midnapore.  

The rat had nibbled the currency notes through a gap in the cash drawer and stored them in its 'home.' The entire act was recorded in the shop’s CCTV cameras. Thus, the fortunate owner managed to recover Rs 12,700 intact from the rat's hole.

Amal Kumar Maity, the owner of the shop in Tamluk Market, closed his business outlet as usual on Wednesday night. “Next morning, I came to my shop around 9 only to find the currency notes missing from the cash drawer. I have an employee who stays in the shop at night. I did not suspect him as I trust him. The lock of the drawer was intact and I had the key,’’ said Maity.       

Maity told other traders of the missing cash. And they gathered at his shop. They talked about the issue and finally decided to lodge a complaint with the police.

“But before going to the local police station, we decided to examine the CCTV footage. When we did so, we found nothing suspicious. We were frustrated. Then one of my business colleagues, asked me to examine the footage thoroughly once again,’’ said Maity.

There are four CCTV cameras installed in the shop. The traders started going through the footage thoroughly.

"We were about to finish watching the CCTV recordings and suddenly, one of the traders asked me to pause and rewind the footage from one of the cameras. While re-watching, we all were startled. It should be around 7 am in the morning, and the rat was seen nibbling out the money and going into a hole and disappearing. Shortly, it came out again and went to the cash drawer. It was taking the currency notes, sometimes a single one and sometimes a bunch, and going to the hole to store the money,’’ recalled Maity.

Maity and others then found the hole inside and started digging. "We recovered Rs 12,700 from the hole. But Rs 300 is still missing. I never imagined such an incident could happen,’’ he said. 
 

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