Vellore police on Wednesday arrested a cashier for looting Rs 22 lakh from Central Bank of India on the premises of Christian Medical College. He had staged it as a robbery and informed the police and bank officials about it.
The accused, C Nagaraj, (31) is a resident of Royapuram in Chennai. Ten months ago, he was transferred from Central Bank of India, Mount Road branch in Chennai to the CMC hospital branch in Vellore.
He was working in the third shift on Tuesday. Around 12:30 am, police were alerted by Nagaraj that a robbery had taken place in the bank. He said that the robbers had entered the bank through a ventilator after bending the iron bars.
An inquiry revealed that Nagaraj was given responsibility of handling the cash after another cashier was on leave. He had said that out of 24 lakhs, Rs. 22 lakhs was stolen.
He claimed that he noticed the locker was open and notes of Rs 500 and Rs 2000 were found on the floor.
The Times of India reported that Rs. 67 lakhs collected in the first and second shifts were intact, while Rs 22 lakhs collected in the third shift was missing.
The investigating officer M Arivazhagan told TOI that they went through the CCTV footage and ruled out the involvement of outsiders. They inquired from the staff and found footprints in one of the rooms, which were confirmed to be of Nagaraj’s.
Later, he confessed to the crime and said that he had hidden the money in another bank room. Police found nine bundles of Rs 2000 notes and eight bundles of Rs 500 notes.