CHENNAI: A special police team is on the search for a three-member gang that allegedly drove away a car containing Rs 1.63 crore in cash after diverting the driver’s attention by staging a minor collision at Oragadam in Kancheepuram district on Tuesday night.
Most of the stolen money was collected as the day’s sales proceeds from 25 Tasmac outlets, the police said. A senior Tasmac official, however, told TNIE that the corporation has not suffered any financial loss as the private bank entrusted with its collection usually credits the money to its account as soon as it is collected from the outlets.
Das (52), a Chennai-based private bank collection agent, and hired car driver Habeeb Rahman were on Tuesday night collecting sales proceeds from the Tasmac outlets across the district. Around 9.40 pm, they reached an outlet near a forest area in Oragadam. Das went inside to collect the cash while Rahman stayed in the car with the money already collected.
At that time, the three suspects wearing helmets arrived on a motorcycle. One got off nearby while the other two rode ahead and dashed against the car’s rear portion. Rahman stepped out of the vehicle and chased the motorcycle, leaving the car keys inside. The third suspect then drove away the car containing the cash. The car was later found near an engineering college in Karanithangal, along with Rs 12 lakh in cash, the police said.
A Tasmac official said cash is usually collected from its outlets in secured Cash-in-Transit (CIT) vans accompanied by two armed guards, but on this occasion the team had arrived in a hired car without security personnel. Tasmac has sought an explanation from the private bank over the security lapse.
As many employees were on leave for Deepavali, the collection team was sent without a guard, the police added. Based on Das’s complaint, the Oragadam police registered a case on Wednesday. A special team is searching for the suspects.
