Bengaluru: Two missing containers, allegedly carrying cash to the tune of ₹ 400 crore from Chorla ghat bordering Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra, have now created a sensation of being one of the biggest robberies in the history of South India.
Though the police from all the three states are part of the investigation of the heist that is said to have taken place on October 16, the Karnataka police have not yet registered any case as there are neither direct evidence for the two containers passing through the ghat, nor circumstantial evidences to establish that the money was being transported through this route.
However, the only clue in the case is that Sandeep Datta Patil from Nasik, who has filed a complaint with the Nashik police stating that the money went missing and the people who owned the money had kidnapped him on Oct 26 and tortured him to give them the money.
However, Belagavi SP K Ramarajan said that he did receive a letter from the Nashik SP, where the complaint copy of Sandeep Dutta Patil had been enclosed.
``We have sent a team from Khanapur police station to Nashik, who are assisting them in the investigation. However, we have no direct or indirect evidence for either money being transported or the said containers had travelled through Chorla Ghat. Someone who has seen the money should tell that the money was being transported and the starting and destination points of the said money. At least, Nashik police should tell us if the money was really being transported. We are also looking for some evidence in the case,'' he said.
Meanwhile, the Belagavi police have arrested five persons who are said to have kidnapped and tortured Sandeep Dutta Patil for one and a half months, he said, adding that at least arrested people should spill some beans over the entire issue.
According to Sandeep Patil's complaint, the two containers carrying cash were travelling from Goa to Mumbai. The money belonged to a real estate dealer called Kishore Sait and they went missing from the Chorla ghats on Oct 16. On October 16, five people kidnapped Sandeep Patil and blamed him for hijacking the containers and stealing the money. They tortured him physically for one and a half months, demanding to return ₹ 400 crore.
On Jan 1, he escaped from the kidnappers and lodged a complaint with the Nashik police. On Jan 6, the Nashik police wrote a letter to Belagavi police, seeking their assistance in the investigation. During the course of investigation, four people, who are alleged to have kidnapped Sandeep Patil have been arrested.
Interestingly, Sandeep Patil is said to have given a statement that the money was in the form of ₹ 2000 currency notes, which is banned. In another place, he has feigned ignorance about the denominations and has said that he was blamed for the heist and was asked to pay ₹ 400 crore, while there could be more money in the two containers.
Chorla ghat is a strategic place, which shares Goa-Karnataka-Maharashtra borders. Once the vehicles leave Goa check post, for the next four hours, till the vehicle reaches Khanapur border, there is no mobile signal for nearly four hours. Though there is a small road along the forest border, where one can reach Maharashtra directly without connecting Khanapur, container trucks can not pass on that road.
Since it a huge amount of cash, no one has claimed ownership of the money and other than the complaint and statement of Sandeep Patil, the only hope for the police from Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra are the five people, who have been arrested on the charges of kidnapping and torturing Sandeep Patil.
