Varsha Sriram

In the early hours of Monday, a man on a bike dumped three bags containing cash worth Rs 1.56 crores after escaping a high-speed police chase in Kotturpuram. The burglar fled the scene after the patrol police personnel chased him over suspicion. 

According to Times of India, the patrol police personnel were on duty at the Varadapuram area in Kotturpuram at 2.30 a.m when they saw a man roaming around the area in a suspicious manner. When the man did not stop after the police tried to intercept him, the police began to chase him. During the chase, the man came across a speed-breaker, lost balance and dropped off the three bags he had with him. 

When the police checked the bag, they found bundles of notes inside in the denominations of 500 which amounted to Rs 1.56 crores. 

Speaking to The Hindu, a senior police official said, “Nobody came forward to claim the money until afternoon. We were planning to hand the money over to the treasury department or the court, as is the usual procedure for abandoned cash and valuables.” 

Meanwhile, a complaint was lodged by a businessman with the Saidapet police claiming that money from his house was stolen. According to the complaint, Rs 1.56 cr was stolen. 

The police said that Balasubramaniam, one of the directors of a leading shopping mall in the city whose house is located on the Sixth Street, Nandanam Extension, was out of town when the incident took place and his daughter was staying in the first floor of the house. 

On Monday morning, when the maid came to the house, she was shocked to see the door left open and things scattered all around. Balasubramaniam’s daughter was alerted and she lodged a complaint with the Saidapet police. 

After receiving the complaint, the police recovered CCTV footage that was recorded near Balasubramanian’s house and saw a biker coming out from the street with bags. 

Times of India reported that after a preliminary investigation, it was revealed that Balasubramaniam had sold a property for 5 crores. The police officer said, as quoted by TOI, “He received 3 crores via online transactions and the rest in cash. However, while the huge sum of money went missing, gold ornaments and 17 lakhs kept in the same room were left untouched.” Police is conducting further investigation on this matter.