One year later, no arrests in Salem-Chennai train heist case
Siddharth Prabhakar| TNN | Updated: Aug 8, 2017, 11:52 PM IST
Chennai: Exactly a year ago, railway authorities at Chennai Egmore station discovered that Rs 5.8 crore of soiled currency was stolen from a high-security coach of the Salem-Chennai Express through a hole sawed on the roof. Till date, no arrests have been made in the case, which was as daring as it is mystifying.
The train left Salem on the night of August 8, 2016 and reached Chennai the next morning. When railway and bank officials opened the sealed coach at Egmore station around 11am, they found that three boxes were broken and the notes missing. The case was transferred from Government Railway Police (GRP) to CB-CID.
Ironically, majority of the cash stolen was the old Rs 500 notes, which were demonetised in November by the Centre. One year on, there are still unanswered questions. It was theorised that the hole was sawed while the train was moving through the non-electrified Salem-Vridhachalam section. However, the possibility of the hole being sawed in the Salem or Chennai yard was also investigated.
The role of railway employees was not ruled out. CB-CID had questioned many employees with regard to the case. Sources in the department said the role of an inter-state robbery gang which specialises in theft of luggage has been zeroed in by the investigators. There is a strong Tamil Nadu link to the case, sources said.
"It was a well-planned and executed; not a one-off instance," a source said.
Special teams had visited at least five states including West Bengal, Kerala and Bihar in search of clues. Banks in various states were asked to keep a look-out, in case the soiled currencies were exchanged.
Chennai: Exactly a year ago, railway authorities at Chennai Egmore station discovered that Rs 5.8 crore of soiled currency was stolen from a high-security coach of the Salem-Chennai Express through a hole sawed on the roof. Till date, no arrests have been made in the case, which was as daring as it is mystifying.
The train left Salem on the night of August 8, 2016 and reached Chennai the next morning. When railway and bank officials opened the sealed coach at Egmore station around 11am, they found that three boxes were broken and the notes missing. The case was transferred from Government Railway Police (GRP) to CB-CID.
Ironically, majority of the cash stolen was the old Rs 500 notes, which were demonetised in November by the Centre. One year on, there are still unanswered questions. It was theorised that the hole was sawed while the train was moving through the non-electrified Salem-Vridhachalam section. However, the possibility of the hole being sawed in the Salem or Chennai yard was also investigated.
The role of railway employees was not ruled out. CB-CID had questioned many employees with regard to the case. Sources in the department said the role of an inter-state robbery gang which specialises in theft of luggage has been zeroed in by the investigators. There is a strong Tamil Nadu link to the case, sources said.
"It was a well-planned and executed; not a one-off instance," a source said.
Special teams had visited at least five states including West Bengal, Kerala and Bihar in search of clues. Banks in various states were asked to keep a look-out, in case the soiled currencies were exchanged.
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