The police have registered an FIR against the driver of a cash management company who fled with Rs 82.5 lakh in hard cash on Wednesday night from Ulwe in Navi Mumbai.
The driver scooted with the vehicle when the other employees were engaged in uploading cash in one of the ATMs near Bamandongri railway station, around 8 pm.
The police said that the driver abandoned the vehicle near Apollo Hospital in Belapur and decamped with the box containing Rs 82,50,000.
The driver was later identified as Sandip Dalvi, 35, a resident of Sector 19 in Koparkhairane; he had replaced another driver on the day of incident.
Ravindra Patil, senior police inspector from NRI coastal police, said that the initial investigation had revealed negligence on the part of CMS Security India Private Limited, the cash management company.
According to the police, the van had left Koparkhairane with Rs 2,29,50,000 in cash and uploaded the currency in ATMs of different banks in Jasai, Dhutum, Pirkon, Navghar, Charphata Uran, Karanja and Ghawan; sector 19 in Ulwe, where the Bank of India’s ATM is located, was the next port of call.
While the security personnel was guarding the ATM gate, the other staff, including the wallet officer of the cash management company, Shrishail Mashal, 38, busy were uploading the cash. The van was parked 50 meters ahead of the ATM.
When Mashal and others returned after uploading the cash, they found the van missing. They searched the area but did not find the driver and the van. They immediately notified the manager of the company about the missing vehicle. The manager traced the van to Parsik Hill through the GPS installed in the vehicle. Mashal and others reached there in an auto rickshaw and started scouring the area.
Finally, they found the vehicle parked near Apollo Hospital but the cash box was missing. They immediately called the police helpline.
Later, Mashal registered a complaint at NRI police station under section 407 of the IPC. Senior PI Patil said the whole night they tried to trace the vehicle but in vain.
