The Railway Protection Force (RPF), which initially investigated the train robbery case involving the theft of Rs. 5.75 crore, had recorded in the First Information Report (FIR) that the Assistant Commissioner of Police was in the HA-1 (First-cum-Two-Tier AC Coach) while eight others were in S-1 Sleeper Class compartment that was three coaches away from the parcel van.
“The escort police have confirmed that they checked the seal on the door of the parcel van at regular intervals and heard nothing unusual. There was a never a practice of police climbing on top of the coach to check the roof. They did not notice any suspicious person or activity in close vicinity of the train as it left Salem on the night of August 8 and reached Chennai Egmore the next morning,” a senior police official told The Hindu here.
Besides seeking the assistance of railway engineers in understanding the design of the coach, strength of materials and equipment required for drilling a hole through the roof, CB-CID officials have also reached out to bank staff to estimate the size of Rs. 5.75 crore worth of soiled notes if they were to be bundled, the official said.
Some of the crucial aspects that the CB-CID is probing is the exact time when the soiled currency was loaded into the parcel van, the time when it was shunted and attached to the empty rake of Salem-Chennai Express in the yard and the time when the full rake of 22 coaches was brought on to the platform for departure. “We have reasons to suspect the role of some insiders in this case. It is possible that the suspects managed to remain in the parcel van after it was loaded with the soiled currency or partially drilled a hole on the roof after ascertaining it was booked for transportation of money,” the official said.
Escort police claim they did not notice any suspicious
person or activity
in vicinity of train
