Burglars decamp with ₹1.43 crore from BHEL Co-Operative Bank

Unidentified miscreants on Thursday (October 31) robbed ₹1.43 crore cash from the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) Employees Cooperative Bank Limited on the outskirts of Trichy.

Within a month, this is the second biggest burglary in the district, the first being the Lalithaa Jewelry burglary case where three masked men on October 3 stole jewels worth ₹13 crores.

The incident came to light on Friday (November 1) morning when the bank accountant J Ravindran opened the bank and informed the police.

During a preliminary inquiry, the police found that the burglars entered the bank through one of the windows at the spot and stole cash from an open locker.

“Culprit have stolen about ₹1.43 crore in cash from one locker that was kept inside a suitcase. The locker was reportedly not locked. So, the culprits have stolen and did not disturb the other locked lockers,” the police told The Federal.

Also read: 2 masked men drill hole to loot Lalithaa Jewellery in Trichy

Police suspect the involvement of the people working at the BHEL premises where the bank is located and is expected to be busy 24×7.

While the building’s CCTV footage revealed that only one person entered the bank and fled with a cash-filled suitcase, the police suspect that at least two people are involved in the crime.

“In the CCTV footage recovered from the site, it was known that only one person has gained entry through the window. After taking the suitcase with Rs 1.43 crores, the culprit fled the spot in a car,” the police said.

Sources said that the amount stolen was transferred to the bank due to Friday being a salary day and was not kept in its usual safe place but since it was a cooperative bank, the premises would have had limited deposits.

“But, since November 1 was the salary date and people would throng the bank to withdraw cash, the money was transported from the chest to the bank. Even in the bank, it was not kept where it would be kept on normal days,” sources privy to the investigation said.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by the Ziaul Haque, Superintendent of Police, Trichy will be conducting the probe.