Tamil Nadu: CCTV trail helps railway police recover 26 sovereigns

MADURAI: A bag containing 26 sovereigns of gold jewellery and Rs 50,000 in cash was traced and recovered within about two hours after Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel and Tamil Nadu Railway Police followed a CCTV trail across railway stations and tracked an elderly couple to the Virudhunagar bus stand.

The operation began at Madurai railway station, where investigators identified the couple on CCTV footage carrying the missing bag and boarding another train. When the train had already passed Virudhunagar, police switched their search to CCTV footage at the next station, traced the couple's onward journey by autorickshaw and finally caught up with them at the bus stand.

The accused were identified as Kaliappan, 66, and his wife Solaiyammal, 62, both from JJ Nagar in Vannarapettai, Chennai. The bag containing jewellery and cash, valued at Rs 8.30 lakh, was recovered from them.

The operation was launched after Mahadevi, wife of Sethu and a resident of Bharathidasan Street in Irumbuliyur, Tambaram, reported that her bag had gone missing while she was travelling on the Tambaram-Madurai Kudal Express to Manamadurai on September 12.

Mahadevi was travelling in the general compartment next to the engine when the bag containing the jewellery and cash went missing. She reported the matter to the station master at Kudal Nagar railway station, who alerted the RPF personnel in Madurai.

When the train arrived in Madurai, RPF head constable Sathyamoorthy searched the compartment, but the bag was not found.

RPF personnel and Tamil Nadu Railway Police Crime Branch personnel then questioned Mahadevi and examined CCTV footage at Madurai railway station.

The footage showed an elderly couple carrying the bag described by Mahadevi and boarding the general compartment of the Chennai-Kanniyakumari special train.

Police immediately alerted RPF and railway police personnel in Virudhunagar. However, by the time officers were informed, the train had already crossed Virudhunagar railway station.

The search then shifted to CCTV footage recorded at Virudhunagar station. Investigators questioned autorickshaw drivers after learning that the couple had left the railway station in an autorickshaw.

The trail led the police to the Virudhunagar bus stand, where the couple was traced and the bag recovered.

Madurai Railway Police registered a case and produced the two accused before the Sixth Magistrate Court in Madurai. The judge granted them bail, considering their age, according to the report.

Senior railway security and police officials appreciated the personnel involved in the operation, which led to the recovery of the valuables within about two hours.