ATM cash van security men among 9 held for plotting to steal Rs 1.40 crore in Vizianagaram

VIZIANAGARAM: The Vizianagaram district police arrested five members of a currency exchange gang and four staffers of the custodian firm who had stolen Rs 1.40 crore from Secure Value India Limited, a custodian for nationalised banks. Around Rs 80 lakh, one gold chain, three mobile phones and three two-wheelers were recovered by the police from the accused.

Disclosing the case details before the media, Vizianagaram Superintendent of Police (SP) M Deepika said that the four persons were working for Secure Value India Limited, the custodian for State Bank of India (SBI), Axis Bank and other nationalised banks for depositing the cash in ATMs. On August 23, the four bank custodians left to deposit Rs 1.40 crore in the ATM centers in routes No. 3 and 4 of the district.

They deposited Rs 4 lakh in an ATM of One India Bank in Kumili village. The bank officials suspected a shortage of cash and conducted an audit from August 24 to 26 as no report was submitted by the custodians for the remaining Rs 1.36 crore. The audit report revealed that Rs 1,42,27,900 went missing and they registered a case with Gantyada police. A case was registered and an investigation revealed that four custodians had stolen the amount, Deepika said.

The SP said that the four custodians took Rs 2,000 notes worth Rs 2 crore and entered into an agreement with a currency exchange gang to give Rs 500 notes worth Rs 1.40 crore. If everything went well as planned, the four custodians would have got a commission of Rs 60 lakh in the deal.

On August 23, the four custodians took Rs 1.40 crore in two bags and went on motorcycles to the outskirts of Korlam village in Gantyada mandal to exchange the currency notes with the gang.

The accused were identified as R Vinod, Ch Govind Rao, A Sai alias Tattoo Sai, N Santosh and M Siva Shankar, all of them natives of Vizianagaram district and members of a currency note exchange gang. All of a sudden, the accused attacked the four custodians and fled the spot with Rs 1.40 crore which they brought for exchange with the gang.

Special teams traced the identity of the accused and recovered around Rs 80 lakh out of the total stolen amount from them, Deepika said and added that soon a few more people associated with the gang would be arrested.

Deepika cautioned the people about currency note exchange gangs. She advised them to exchange the higher denomination notes in the banks. In case of any information related to the currency note exchange gang, people could approach the police, she added