The Hindu : Police obtain definite clues about culprits

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 09, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

Police obtain definite clues about culprits

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM May 8. The Cantonment police is learnt to have received certain definite clues about the daring daylight heist in the State capital on April 10 in which Rs. 1 lakh had been robbed from a person after he withdrew the amount from the State Bank of Travancore's Treasury Branch near the Government Secretariat.

When contacted, a senior police official said the police were pursuing some credible leads and it was `too risky' to reveal any details at this stage of the investigation.

According to the police, the robbery took place at 11-45 a.m. soon after the victim of the robbery, Abdul Hakim, a resident of Nilamel in Kollam district, withdrew the amount from the bank.

The modus operandi of the crime was described by an official as `deft'. Mr. Hakim withdrew the money in two bundles of Rs. 500 denomination. He deposited the money in the glove compartment of his car, which was parked in front of the bank.

When he was about to start the car, a person knocked at the window on the driver's side and asked him whether a 10-rupee note that had fallen on the ground was from his pocket.

According to police, Mr. Hakim was momentarily distracted and using this opportunity a second person opened the door on the other side of the car, grabbed the cash bundles from the glove compartment and vanished.

Recently, the city police had cracked an almost similar case in which the Rs. 6 lakhs had been stolen from the cashier of a private foreign exchange currency firm after he was waylaid by an armed gang on the National Highway by-pass at Thiruvallam. Among those arrested in connection with the case included, `Malayan' Dileep, who the police described as a notorious gang leader.

However, the police were yet to get a lead on the daring daylight heist of Rs. 10 lakhs from Union Bank of India officials in May, 1999, at Sreekariyam in the city.

In the case of the Rs.10-lakh heist, the taxi in which the money was being transported by two UBI staff had got stuck in the traffic congestion along the Elamkulam-Sreekariyam stretch when the robbers struck.

A man had walked up to the car, opened the door and snatched the money bag from the bank manager who was sitting in the rear.

The money was being transported from the head office of the bank at Statue to its sub-branch at Attipra.

A senior city police official said that there have been reports of robbery cases employing the same modus operandi in Tamil Nadu as well as other districts in the State. There was a felt need for citizens and bank officials to take extra precaution while transporting large sums of money, he said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

Stories in this Section

Police obtain definite clues about culprits

Vilappil plant starts lifting garbage

Snag in CT scan machine hits diagnosis at MCH

Cases of soured marital ties dominate adalat