The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : TASMAC shops offer easy pickings for thieves

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 08, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

TASMAC shops offer easy pickings for thieves

L. Srikrishna

Since 2003, about 100 cases have been registered

ACTION NEEDED: Cases of cash stolen from TASMAC outlets have increased. — Photo : M. Karunakaran

CHENNAI : The chances of recovery of stolen or missing properties, mostly cash, from TASMAC retail outlets in the city is low, according to the police.

Since 2003, the police had registered about 100 cases involving Rs 32 lakh cash loss, solved 45 cases and recovered around Rs 5.50 lakh. There are about 780 TASMAC outlets across the city police limits.

Officials said the liquor shops, which opened at around 8 a.m. closed at 12 midnight, had an average daily sales of around Rs 1 lakh; the figure doubled during weekends and holidays.

Police said many shops in the city lacked infrastructure; some did not even have a proper cash box or locker facility.

A senior police officer said for the volume of sales reported by the outlets in prime areas, the security arrangement were nil. Along the peripheries, the security risk was higher still as movement of people thinned by night, making it equally unsafe to stock the collection at the shop or carrying it to the employee's house, he added.

Method of operation

An officer in charge of crime wing in the city said typically cash missing cases remain non-traceable if not been within a week or 10 days from the date of occurrence. Even in cases where the culprits are tracked, it is impossible to recover the whole amount as the money would already have been spent.

In many cases, the thieves co-opted associates from other cities and towns to commit the crimes, as the fingerprints lifted from the spot did not match with those in the bureau records.

In some cases, TASMAC employees terminated from service engaged others to rob the outlet. In few cases, our suspicion of the involvement of ex-employees was confirmed, the officer said.

According to police records, between 2003 and 2004, there had been a phenomenal increase in the targeting of TASMAC shops. From the two cases involving Rs 40,000 cash stolen from the shops in 2003, the crimes shot up over 50 cases involving Rs. 13 lakh in 2004.

Over the next two years, police registered about 35 cases in which there was a cash loss of about Rs 20 lakh. In 2007, up to April, there have been nine cases of Rs 4.75 lakh cash stolen. Out of a total of Rs 32 lakh cash stolen during the last four years, police were able to recover only Rs 5.50 lakh, they added.

Suggestion

A senior police officer suggested that the TASMAC employees deposit large sums with the nearest police station after recording the same with the cash register available.

This would not only ensure safety, but also prevent public money getting stolen. The government could also contemplate appointing reputed private security agencies or banks to collect the cash at a specific time during the day, he added.

When contacted, a TASMAC official said they would study the suggestions.

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