Officer Navneet Rana says the bank manager discovered the damage when he opened the reinforced room in an old bank building on Wednesday.

Rana told The Associated Press on Friday: “It’s a matter of investigation how termites attacked bundles of currency notes stacked in a steel chest.” Rana said the termites had damaged bank furniture and documents in the past. The money was put in the bank chest in January.

Rana says police have registered a case of negligence by bank officials in Barabanki, a town 20 miles (30 kilometers) southwest of Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh state capital. In India, police register a case before opening an investigation.