The super hit Bollywood movie “Dhoom” might be favorite for many but the story of this movie has been enacted by some robbers in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The basic idea of the movie became the robbery plan for robbers who attacked the moving train, which carried currency boxes worth Rs. 342 crores and somehow, managed to rob Rs. 5.78 crores. The train was carrying the money from a western city of Tamil Nadu, Salem to the capital city Chennai. The robbers are still unidentified who managed to gain an entrance into the coach carrying the money. It is reported that the Forensic department is checking along the railway tracks for the clues of the robbers.
“A special team has been formed under Railway police SP Vijayakumar and three DSPs will be assisting him in the investigations,” said M Ramasubramanian, Inspector General.
In the robbery, police found out that a total of 4 boxes are found broken. The first box is missing entirely, whereas another two boxes were half empty. The third box was only broken and no cash from it is missing, it was only scattered all over the place. This would have been done as the cash in the fourth box was of smaller denomination. The incident shook the whole country and all the police stations have been alerted. The police force has been roped into the investigation. The IG of the state said, “The incident came to light when RBI officials opened the coach on its arrival (in Chennai) and found the currency notes lying scattered inside.”
The currency belonged to few public sector banks and was transported from a train from Salem to Chennai to be handed over to the Reserve Bank of India.
It is still unclear that when and at which point did the thieves managed to get into the coach carrying money boxes as it was a 350 km long journey, started on Monday night.
The gates of the coach were intact but there was a large hole found on the top of the coach, which was considered enough for a person to enter. Thus, the police suspect that the thieves have entered through that hole. The robbery was noticed after the train reached its destination in Salem, around 3.55 am on Tuesday. There are reports that the coach was carrying 226 boxes filled with currency.
The train also had security arrangements which include a team headed by the Assistant Commissioner of Police. It is still doubtful that how the thieves can drill a hole on the roof of the coach as the electric cables was right above the coach. The police suspect that the burglars might have exploited a few stretches along the route which are unidentified till now.
As the reports confirm, there was a total of 15 RPF personnel for the security of the coach. Some of them were armed and put into the general compartment right before the VPH parcel van whereas the other armed ones were traveling in the guard coach, behind the VPH Van. The complete VPH parcel was sealed during the complete journey, but there was no armed security into the VPH coach. “The theft is likely to have taken place between Salem and Vridhachalam as the 138-km section was non-electrified,” the sources said.
Presently, the train is presently stationed in a yard near Egmore railway station in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Now, the police are trying to find out whether the train was halted during the journey anywhere or if the robbers could have managed to enter the VPH coach right before the train even started.
