Ahmedabad: Two more held in Rs 8.7cr RBI chest theft, Rs 60L seized

Ahmedabad: Kalupur police have arrested two more accused in the Rs 8.7 crore theft from the RBI currency chest at Bank of Baroda’s Kalupur branch and recovered Rs 60 lakh in cash from their possession, officials said.

The latest arrests come days after police nabbed the main accused, Harsiddh Kadiyar, a joint custodian at the bank, who allegedly siphoned off the money over several months and manipulated records on the RBI’s e-Kuber portal to conceal the shortage.

Police identified the newly arrested accused as Zulfikar Ansari (57), a labourer, and his son Sultan Ansari (26), both residents of Vatva. Police said the duo allegedly conspired with Kadiyar and helped remove cash from the currency chest.

According to police, the theft occurred between Jan and May this year, during which Rs 8.7 crore was allegedly stolen from the currency chest. The fraud surfaced after an internal audit conducted following Kadiyar’s sudden absence from work revealed that 174 reams of Rs 500 notes were missing.

Police said CCTV footage showed Kadiyar entering the branch along with the two accused and later leaving with several boxes reportedly labelled as scrap material. Police suspect the cash was smuggled out in those boxes.

Following interrogation of the main accused, police tracked down the father-son duo and arrested them on Saturday night. The court granted three days’ remand of both accused for further questioning.

So far, police have recovered Rs 2.85 crore in cash, an Ertiga car worth Rs 6 lakh and three mobile phones, taking the total recovered property to Rs 2.91 crore.