Bengaluru, India

A ragpicker found US dollar bills that, if not counterfeit, would be worth $3 million (about ₹25 crore), near a railway track in southern India's Bengaluru. 

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Saleman S K, a native of West Bengal state's Nadia district, collects plastic bottles and waste materials to make his ends meet. 

What happened?

According to an Indian Express report, last Friday (Nov 3), Saleman was scavenging for waste near the Nagawara railway station in Bengaluru when he found a bunch of currency notes wrapped in paper. 

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He then reportedly told the police: "Initially did not know that there were currency notes in it. As it was packed, I thought it might be some books that had been thrown. But when I came home and opened it, I found 23 bundles of US dollars but there was a stench of some chemical and I felt sick."

What did Saleman do with money?

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The report claims that Saleman hid the money at his home. On November 5, he reached out to an activist who informed the police about Saleman's discovery. 

"We met the police commissioner who too was surprised to see such a large bundles of currency notes. He immediately called the Hebbal police inspector who took up the issue," the national executive member of Swaraj India, R Kaleem Ullah, was quoted as saying by The Indian Express. 

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Ullah told the publication that Saleman was in shock and did not sleep or eat from Nov 3 till he met him. 

"The only food he had was at the city police commissioner’s office," Ullah said.

"He (Saleman) was afraid that the police would suspect him of foul play if he approached them which made him reach out to me only after two days," said Ullah.

What else did the package contain?

According to R Kareeem Ullah, the package Saleman found also featured a note on a United Nations letterhead. 

The letter read, "The economic and finance committee puts in place a special fund which was voted by members of the security council to assist UN peacekeeping forces in south Sudan. Due to the skeletal banking operations and the hijacking of such funds by unauthorized persons such as terrorists and dictators in these regions the United Nations authorized the finance committee of the UN to place a visible laser stamp on the notes to act as security in order to have the funds to reach its destination safely."

The note also claimed that the bills were anti-breeze and should not be exposed to air or atmospheric pressure. 

"The chemical required to remove the last stamp is Fino-Bioxine Universal solution Code (BDZ8Y56)," the letter read.

The police have seized all 23 bundles and sent them to the Reserve Bank of India for further examination. 

(With inputs from agencies)