accidentally found currency for staff

It could be a scene straight out of an old Bollywood thriller. A cupboard in a hospital, supposedly empty and not opened for almost a decade, yielded Rs 13.89 lakh on Saturday.

The cupboard, at Western Railway's (WR) Jagjivan Ram Hospital at Mumbai Central, was lying unused on the ground floor near the medical officers' room along with several others. It was unopened for what officials guess to be around eight years. A WR officer said the currency was accidentally found as staffers tried to open the cupboard on Saturday so that it could be used for some purpose. "Staffers tried to open the cupboard on Saturday but the keys were nowhere in sight so a locksmith was called," said a source.

Confirming the incident, WR's chief PRO Sharat Chandrayan said the cash was found stashed in plastic bags and the money has now been deposited in WR's coffers. He said the money was mostly in lower denominations and there were many coins too. "Besides being stashed in polythene bags they were also strewn around," he said.

"The office staff who found the money called the senior administrative doctors who then sealed the room," said an officer. Surprisingly, police were called to investigate the case only on Monday morning.

The source of the money is not known. "It seems to be a case of misappropriation of railway money. An enquiry has been initiated by the RPF and senior railway officials," he said.

"Around Rs 13 lakh in cash was found in a cupboard at the Jagjivan Ram Hospital in Mumbai Central. The cash belongs to the Railways itself so no criminal case will be registered. The Railway administration will look into the matter and conduct an independent inquiry," said senior inspector of Nagpada police station, Sanjay Kadam.