The Crime Branch CID of the Tamil Nadu police have registered a case in connection with the mysterious vanishing of 103.8 kg of gold worth about ₹30 crore, in the Surana case.
Acting on the directions of the Madras High Court, the CB-CID Metro team booked a case against unknown persons under Section 380 (Theft) of the Indian Penal Code.
The FIR, which did not name any accused, was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by Ramasubramaniam, Insolvency Professional, liquidator, Chennai, regarding the gold that went missing from the sealed vaults of Surana Corporation Limited, Sowcarpet, and the theft is alleged to have taken place between June 20, 2012 and February 27, 2020.
The case relates to the searches conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation on the premises of Surana Corporation Ltd in 2012 in connection with a case. The search list mentioned that 400.47 kg gold had been inventoried and kept in safe vaults of the company after sealing it in the presence of independent witnesses and the Managing Director of Surana Corporation and its officials.
Going by the directions of the Madras High Court, the vaults were opened in the presence of an official liquidator, officials belonging to six banks and independent witnesses and inspected from February 27 to 29, 2020 to hand over the gold to the lender banks of Surana Corporation Ltd.
“The seals affixed on the vaults were found intact. However, the gold weighed only 296.66 kgs. As the discrepancy between the quantity mentioned in search memo and as per the weight came to notice, CBI promptly ordered an internal inquiry by a senior officer to look into the role of its officials, if any,” a CBI spokesperson said in a note adding that the inventorised gold was not kept in ‘Malkhana’ or the vaults of CBI, but on the premises of the company only under the seal.
CBI’s internal enquiry continues and if any adverse role of any CBI officials surfaced, “strict action will be taken against them,” the note said.
