Driver escapes with Rs 1.18 crore, abandons car

CHENNAI: A driver of a private cash management company escaped with a vehicle containing 1.18 crore meant to be filled in ATMs in Velappanchavadi near Thiruverkadu on Monday afternoon.
He later abandoned the vehicle near Maduravoyal and escaped with the cash box. Police said the driver Esakki Pandian from Tirunelveli probably kept a getaway vehicle ready.
Pandian had been working with private cash management company, Logicash, for six months. At 2.30pm, Pandian and two other employees, Babu and Sathish Kumar, and an armed guard Jovith Mullah took 2.29 crore from Bank of Baroda in Kodambakkam.
The van was on its way to fill ATMs at Poonamallee High Road and Velappanchavadi. At 2.30pm, the vehicle halted opposite Kendra Vihar quarters in Velappanchavadi. Babu and Sathish Kumar went to fill the ATM. Pandian asked Jovith Mullah to buy him water. When Mullah went to buy water, Pandian drove the van with the money away.
When the guard came back and saw the van was missing, he and the others lodged a complaint at Thiruverkadu police station.
"He took 1.18 crore from the vehicle," said an investigating officer. Police are analyzing the CCTV camera footage from nearby localities to trace the driver. A special team has been formed to investigate the case.