Mumbai Crime: Thief makes away with Rs 44 lakh from LTT locker

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All hell broke loose when Chief Booking Officer of Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT), Sunil Teltumbde received a call from the station booking office on Monday regarding theft of Rs 44 lakh cash from a locker behind the ticket counter.

In a statement to the Government Railway Police (GRP), Teltumbde said, "Early on Monday booking clerk Zamman Meena informed me that cash had been stolen from the locker and that they were searching for it. When I called them again after sometime, they said that they couldn't find the money."

According to the police, the accused used a duplicate key to open the locker, as there was no sign of force applied to break it. An officer said, "The stolen money was the amount collected on September 21. We have registered an offence against unknown accused under sections 454, 457 and 380 of IPC. Footages of CCTV cameras on the station premises are being checked."

Police sources said that staffers at the booking counter worked in three shifts and on Monday, six workers - Sajit Nair, Ratish Jha, Harishchandra, Zamman Meena, Pankaj Singh and cashier Sameer Taharabadkar - who were on the second shift had continued on the third one as well.

A police officer said, "The locker is in the ticket booking office and nobody is allowed in the area without the cashier's permission. The cashier has major responsibility as he monitors the cash till it's deposited in the bank account."

Cops suspect that the thief knew about the cash and somehow managed to get the keys to the locker so that he could make a duplicate one. "We have not ruled out any possibility till the accused is traced," the police said.

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