RAMANATHAPURAM
The district police have arrested four staff members, including two cash custodians, of cash management company SISCO on charges of misappropriating ₹1.85 crore as Superintendent of Police Omprakash Meena transferred the ATM cash missing case to a DSP for a thorough investigation.
A day after Sayalkudi police registered a first information report on a complaint preferred by R. Uma Maheswaran, Deputy Manager, SISCO, Madurai, the police arrested cash custodians A. Anbu, 28, and N. Gurupandian, 30, driver M. Kabilan, 28, and security guard P. Veerapandian, 54, on Monday.
The accused claimed that they were transporting ₹1.85 crore in the ‘cash van’ for loading SBI and HDFC ATMs on the night of December 20 when the vehicle overturned after plunging into a roadside ditch and the cash went missing. As the investigation revealed that they stage-managed the accident and faked the missing of cash, the police booked them under Sections 279 (rash and negligent driving), 337 (endangering life or personal safety of others) and 379 (theft) of the IPC. They were produced before a magistrate court and remanded in judicial custody.
After Sayalkudi police registered the FIR, the SP transferred the case to the Kilakarai DSP for a thorough investigation. The police said the accused, who had been misappropriating money while loading the ATMs, faked the missing of cash when the deficit (due to misappropriation over a period of time) touched more than ₹1.40 crore.
On December 20, they had loaded the ATMs with a total amount of ₹1.42 crore, but enacted the drama to make good the deficit. Based on their confession, the police seized ₹41 lakh, including ₹8,50,500 from the van. A sum of ₹2 lakh must be with Anbu, the prime accused, the police said.
The police have asked for CCTV footages of 12 SBI ATMs and six HDFC ATMs recorded for a week. They have also written to the two banks to present balance sheets with regard to the ATMs and SISCO to furnish details of cash management of these ATMs.
The police said the private agency staff should inform their higher officials in SISCO about cash loading with denominations every time they loaded an ATM, but they must have been giving false information.