The Hindu : Other States / Orissa News : BSNL cashier ‘robbed’ of nearly 14 lakhs

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Sunday, Dec 02, 2007
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BSNL cashier ‘robbed’ of nearly 14 lakhs

Correspondent

He was reportedly fired at

Cash being transported without security, it is said
Scientific team to examine the ‘firing’ theory

CUTTACK: Despite repeated warnings from police not to become soft targets of antisocial elements, banks and public sector units are not taking adequate security measures while carrying huge amount of currency notes from one place to another. In yet another looting case of ‘cash in transit’, some unidentified persons reportedly ran away with around Rs 14 lakhs after firing at a BSNL cashier here on Saturday afternoon.

Police, after registering a case, sealed all entry points of the city and launched a massive manhunt to recover the looted cash and nab the culprits. Police are also verifying the genuineness of the complaint after detaining the car driver and BSNL staff who were carrying the amount in a private vehicle without any security cover.

Police said BSNL Link Road office cashier Sukanta Mohanty and his associate Ashok Moharana were carrying the amount to deposit it at SBI main branch of the city near High Court. “The vehicle in which they were going was intercepted near Khan Nagar Jagannath temple by four youths who came in two motorcycles. They then fired at Mohanty and decamped with the cash box that contained Rs 13, 91, 748,” Purighat police inspector Ajay Mandal said quoting the FIR filed by Mohanty.

Mohanty however, sustained minor bruises as he claimed that the bullet fired at him kissed him behind his neck. He was immediately taken to the City Hospital but was discharged after first aid, police said. When doctors suspect that the injury on Mohanty’s neck was not due to bullet, police immediately requisitioned the help of scientific team to ascertain whether any firing actually took place.

“We have not gathered any evidence of firing yet. Neither any bullet was recovered from the car or from nearby place nor was there any damage to the vehicle,” Mr. Mandal said suspecting the complaint.

Police suspect that the looting incident was pre-planned and the driver of the private car could be behind the incident. Incidentally, the BSNL authorities were carrying cash in the same vehicle for the past one-week without any security, enquiries revealed.

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