Dehradun, September 15, 2013: Rs 1.9 crore was found at Kedarnath on Saturday in a box belonging to the State Bank of India (SBI).

Rudraprayag Superintendent of Police Barinderjeet Singh said: “A box containing cash worth Rs. 1.9 crore was unearthed at Kedarnath last week. However, the box was locked and could not be opened as the key was missing.”

During the mid-June deluge the box got buried in the debris and was recovered at around 50 to 60 metres before the Kedarnath shrine, Mr. Singh said.

Rudraprayag District Magistrate Dilip Jawalkar said: “The SBI branch in Kedarnath, which operated seasonally [during the six months of the yatra] got washed out in the mid-June deluge. The box that belonged to the bank got buried in debris during the disaster.”

An SBI employee from Rudraprayag identified the box as belonging to the SBI and tried to open it but it could not be opened.

A team of SBI employees reached Kedarnath from Dehradun and on Saturday opened the box which contained cash worth Rs 1.9 crore.

Mr Singh said, “There were rumours that the box had been stolen at the time of the disaster. However, the amount recovered is exactly what was initially claimed by the SBI officials.”

Mr Jawalkar said, “The money that was found has been returned to the SBI authorities.”

Source: The Hindu, September 15, 2013