Date:27/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/27/stories/2008092758930300.htm

Tamil Nadu

Targeting huge money

There are a few recent incidents when big money was looted, writes S. Vijay Kumar.

Unaccounted money being transported for business purposes, hawala couriers and financiers…these are the targets of some hardcore criminals in this part of the State. There have been quite a few incidents in the recent past when big money was looted without much violence in and around Chennai.

It all depends on the tip-off that could come from within or outside. On Monday, employees of a petrol bunk who were going to a bank in a van were intercepted by a gang that robbed them of Rs. 22.31 lakh. The incident occurred in broad daylight near Sembarampakkam and the accused used chilli powder to have the victims off balance.

In another incident last week, a milk agent who was returning home after the day’s collection was robbed of Rs. 1 lakh in the suburbs. “Such incidents happen only with the help of specific information given by people close to the victims ,” a police official said.

Soon after police detected a major robbery and recovered Rs. 1.5 crore from five of the 11 suspects, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), T. Rajendran, said if there was a written request, police would be ready to provide security to vehicles transporting huge cash. The case pertained to the robbery of Rs. 3.7 crore from the staff of a Tiruchi-based jewellery shop and two of the five gangsters held were employees of the shop.

According to Commissioner of Police R. Sekar, banks and other financial institutions were seeking police protection or engaging private security whenever huge money was transported. “At many informal meetings, we have urged the business class to inform the police when money is transported in vehicles”. In the case of hawala transactions, police say complaints of theft or robbery hardly come because the money is either foreign currency or not accounted. “Hawala couriers carry large amounts of money and leakage of information about their movements could often result in crimes.

In such cases, complaint is usually not preferred because of obvious reasons,” an official in the Central Crime Branch said and added that police were pursuing information about huge money often being transported in some luxury buses and trains.