A resident of Vijayawada, who had saved Rs 5 lakh in cash at his home, lost the money to a termite infestation. The incident was reported at Mylavaram under the limits of the Vijayawada police in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh. Mylavaram is 44 km north of Vijayawada.

Jamalayya, a local pork seller, lost Rs 5 lakh as termites feasted on the currency notes. “Jamalayya stuffed the cash in a plastic bag and saved them in a trunk to protect the money from the clutches of his son," said a police official to IANS.

According to the police, Jamalayya was saving money to build a new house for the family. He stuffed the money in a plastic bag made out of used fertiliser bags. "We had heavy rains in 2020 and during the inclement weather, termites are a big problem," said the official.

The man realised his misfortune when he opened the trunk to retrieve the money. He wanted the cash to repay a debt. After discovering the loss of his savings, Jamalayya's family members emptied the trunk on a bed and on the ground to try and salvage as much as they could.

The currency note denominations included Rs 500, Rs 200, Rs 100, Rs 20 and Rs 10. The distraught family members were seen looking helplessly at the punctured currency notes, while others cried over their loss.

Moved by Jamalayya's predicament, Bank of Baroda officials in Vijayawada approached him to compensate the loss, said the official.

"Depending on how much Bank of Baroda will pay, we are planning to do a panchnama on the balance amount and send it to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)," said the official about the police department's plan to do its bit to reduce Jamalayya’s loss.

(With inputs from IANS)