Having wrapped up interrogation of five suspects, including Mohar Singh of Madhya Pradesh, believed to be the mastermind behind the Salem-Chennai Egmore Express heist in 2016, the State Crime Branch CID revealed the modus operandi of the gang.
Additional Director General of Police, CB CID, Amresh Pujari told The Hindu , “We achieved a breakthrough in the case with the arrest of two suspects on October 12 and subsequently five other suspects including the main accused Mohar Singh of Khejrachak village in Guna district of Madhya Pradesh. They were interrogated thoroughly. Our investigation will continue till the remaining accused are also arrested.” All the accused, including Mohar Singh, were sent to Central Prison, Puzhal, on a remand order from the XI Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Saidapet, on Monday.
Dry runs
Interrogation of the accused revealed that Mohar Singh’s cousin Kiran and his brothers, along with a few other relatives and friends, had committed offences in many States. With the local police looking for him, Mohar Singh and his gang members came to Tamil Nadu in 2016. The CB CID said, “During his stay in Tamil Nadu, he came to know about the movement of cash on the Salem-Chennai train route through one of his gang members. Mohar Singh, along with a few of his associates conducted a reconnaissance on this train route by travelling between Ayodhiapattinam and Vriddhachalam railway stations for more than a week. They decided to operate between Chinna Salem and Vriddhachalam railway stations since the train would run for more than 45 minutes without any halt.”
“As per plan, Mohar Singh and four other associates got on to the train at Chinna Salem when it was about to move, under cover of darkness. They climbed to the roof of the parcel van and cut a hole while the train was on the move,” said a CB CID officer. They used a combination of battery-operated cutters and manual cutters. Two of them dropped down into the parcel van through the hole, broke open the wooden boxes, took the cash bundles, wrapped them in six lungis. As per plan, the other members of the gang, including Mahesh Pardi, were waiting beside the track at Vayalur overbridge near Vriddhachalam railway station.
Cash destroyed
When the train was moving along this curved stretch of track, those on the rooftop threw the cash bundles towards the other gang members waiting on the ground. They then jumped off the train and fled.
“Mohar Singh has also revealed that the cash was shared among his gang. The accused have claimed that much of the cash they got became useless due to demonetisation and hence was destroyed,” said CB CID in a release.
