The suspect allegedly involved in the theft of Rs.20 lakh cash belonging to the State Bank of Travancore was apprehended in Karnataka on Monday. Investigators swooped down on Vinod alias Vikram (24) who was holidaying with his family members at Mysore. Part of the missing cash was recovered, police sources said.
The case pertains to the incident in which a cab driver asked two bank employees escorting Rs.1 crore cash to get down and push the vehicle as it had developed a snag, at Injambakkam here on May 11. After they started pushing, he started the car and sped away with the money.
After police launched a hot chase, the suspect abandoned the car at an isolated lane in Sakthi Nagar and escaped with Rs.20 lakh.
The remaining money of Rs.80 lakh was recovered from the vehicle.
Acting on the instructions of Commissioner of Police T. Rajendran, a team headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police (Thoraipakkam) went to Puducherry where the SBT staff hired the car to transport the money to the bank's head office in Chennai.
Fake proof of address
However, there was not much of clues in the travel agency office or otherwise for police to track down the suspect as he had allegedly given fake photographs, driving licence and proof of address there. “Besides inputs given by the suspect's associates, technology helped in tracking him. We have recovered about Rs.9 lakh from Vinod. He was located at a hotel in Mysore,” Mr. Murali told The Hindu on Monday.
Vinod told police that he had entrusted some money to his friend in Bangalore. His family members were not aware that he had stolen money for the holiday.
Since the accused had used fake photo/documents for seeking job and a long knife was recovered from the car he was driving, police are checking his antecedents, the sources added.
