Police: No theft at Nashik currency press, workload and human error led to miscalculation

Days after reports of theft at the Currency Note Press in Nashik sent officials into a tizzy, police cracked the case and found there was no theft and rather, it was human error and negligence in counting the notes for which two supervisors were held responsible.

It was reported that notes worth Rs 5 lakh had gone missing from the high-security press. Police also said the negligence stemmed out of high workload and the duo did not inform others about the mistake fearing action. The supervisors have been suspended.

An FIR was lodged at the Upnagar police station on July 13 by a press staffer alleging theft of a bundle of notes in February.

A police officer said, “The mint had not started any investigation even after six months and when police began its probe, it was revealed that the bundles were last checked on February 12 by examiners. This led police to the two supervisors who had punched the bundles by mistake and did not rectify it.”

He added, “According to the erring supervisors, the bundle was not stolen but punched wrongly due to workload and out of fear of action, they did not inform anyone about their mistake. Thus, during counting, an additional Rs 5 lakh cropped up in the calculation and it was assumed that the money had been stolen. The duo admitted it in a letter to the mint management and were suspended,” said a police officer, adding that an investigation is underway to find out whether the senior managers were aware of this.