(a) Whether mis-appropriation of soiled notes by the Bangalore Regional Office of Reserve Bank of India has been reported in October, 2001;
(b) if so , the details thereof and the amount involved; and
(c) the action taken against the erring officials alongwith the steps taken to check the recurrence of such mis-appropriation?
Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance (Shri Balasaheb Vikhe Patil)
(a) Yes, Sir.
(b) An incident of pilferage of Rs 50.50 lakh of soiled notes from one of the Vaults of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Bangalore was reported to the RBI Central Office on October 13, 2001.
(c) An FIR was lodged immediately after the incident. Based on preliminary investigations, one of the joint custodians of the Vault for the relevant period, Shri S. Sathyanarayana, was arrested. Departmental action has also been initiated by the RBI against the officials for violation of prescribed procedures & negligence of duty. To check recurrence of such incidents, security checks at the RBI offices including the Bangalore Office have been reinforced.