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Sunday, Aug 01, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

CBI probe into missing currency

By Our Staff Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JULY 31. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is learnt to be proceeding on the assumption that the theft of Rs.50 lakhs from a consignment of currency could have occurred at the Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran unit at Mysore.

The sealed container lorry with the consignment had arrived at the RBI regional office here on July 27 evening and the iron boxes containing the currency were transferred to the bank vault the same day. The packet containing Rs.50 lakhs in notes of Rs.500 denomination was found missing from one of the iron boxes which contained Rs.500 crores. The seals on the box were found intact and pieces of wood and paper were packed into the box to fill up the space occupied by the missing currency packet.

The wood and paper found in the box are material available in the premises of the Mudran unit itself, and this has strengthened the suspicion that the "swapping" occurred at Mysore itself.

The sleuths are optimistic about cracking the case since it is an institution-to-institution transaction and the route which the consignment took are clear. The CBI today questioned the staff at the RBI regional office here in connection with the disappearance.

A CBI team is likely to leave for Mysore shortly. Meanwhile, the General Manager, Department of Currency Management, Mumbai, arrived here today for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation.

Employees suspended

Our Special Correspondent writes from Mysore:

Five staff members of the Mudran unit in Mysore have been placed under suspension in connection with the case. Sleuths from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are expected to arrive here to take over the investigation of the case, which has exposed the security system at the currency note printing unit here.The incident came to light when A. Srinivasan, Assistant Manager and RBI representative in Thiruvananthapuram, noticed that a `mini-pack' containing about Rs.50 lakhs, in the denomination of Rs.500, was missing from the consignment despatched from Mysore to Thiruvananthapuram on July 26. Sources said the consignment contained 10 mini-packs of currency notes.

`Mini-pack no. 21' was sealed in `wooden box no. 93' and despatched on July 26 under security. The currency notes from serial numbers 9BN 200001 to 9BN 210000 were reported missing, the sources added.

First action

Following a complaint, Hemanchandra, general secretary of the employees' union, was suspended as the mini-pack bearing the serial numbers of the notes that are missing was reportedly packed and sealed by him.

Subsequently, four others, including three officers, were also placed under suspension, according to A. Ramdas, former MLA and president of the employees' union of currency note printing units in Mysore and Salgoni in West Bengal.

Senior officials of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Ltd. here are investigating if there was any lapse on the part of the security personnel.

The CISF is vested with the responsibility of providing security to the printing unit, and vaults with currency notes are transported from Mysore under heavy security in Volvo container trucks.

They ply on a designated route without any deviation and neither the timing nor the route to be taken is cleared by the authorities till the last moment.

In view of the security cover provided to each consignment, the possibility of currency notes being stolen from the vault during transit is considered remote. Hence the needle of suspicion points to a serious security lapse elsewhere.

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