Even as investigation into the sensational train robbery case continues, the Principal Director of Audit (PDA) has raised queries on how the Southern Railway accepted Rs. 342.75 crore of soiled currency as ‘zero value consignment’, the steps taken for securely loading/unloading the cash at either end and the persons involved in the process, railway sources said on Friday.
The soiled but usable currency was booked as a ‘zero value consignment’ though the charges for the 23-tonne load stuffed in 226 wooden boxes was paid.
The nationalised banks that booked the cash meant to be delivered to the Reserve Bank of India here engaged a private agency to load the money in the parcel van that was attached to Train No. 11064 Salem-Chennai Express which departed on the night of August 8. Hours after the train arrived here, RBI officials found that Rs. 5.75 crore was stolen and a hole drilled through the roof of the parcel van.
During an audit of parcel revenue, inspectors attached to the PDA office noted that the cash booking was not declared as a high-value consignment. “If declared as a high value consignment, the railway will levy 10 per cent of the value as charges for safely transporting the money. The railway will take responsibility for providing security and even compensate suitably in case of loss or damage,” an audit official told The Hindu .
Parrying questions on the details of the PDA report, he said information on when the parcel van was made available to the banks for loading the cash, intimation given to railway officials at the destination (Chennai Egmore) and other safety measures en route were sought from railway authorities.
“It is not that the parcel booking officials were not aware that the consignment contained cash. They knew that it was soiled currency. We understand that at least six hours lapsed between the arrival of the train in Chennai and unloading of cash by RBI officials…the banks had engaged the State police for escorting the parcel van,” an official said.
Though the responsibility of the railways was “very limited” in this cash transfer since the value of the consignment was declared as ‘nil’, some arrangements should have been in place for handling the cash-laden van at Salem and Chennai. “This is just a routine planned audit and not an enquiry into the theft,” he contended.
Confirming that the PDA had pointed to certain aspects in the cash transfer, a senior railway official refused to elaborate on the issue saying that the matter was under investigation by the Crime Branch CID and the Railway Protection Force.
