Days after Rs 39 lakh went missing from his vehicle, cash van driver jumps to death before train in Chandigarh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 11

The driver of a cash van from which Rs 39 lakh had reportedly gone missing on October 8 today allegedly committed suicide by jumping before a train on a railway track opposite Sector 47. The victim’s family alleged that he was being harassed by the police for the past three days following which he took the extreme step.

The driver of the van of the CMS company, Surinder Pal Singh (46), a gunman and two other employees had left Sector 47 with Rs1.20 crore on October 8 to load the cash in ATMs across the tricity. The staff loaded cash at ATMs in Sector 34, 35, 37 and 38 (West).

On reaching an ATM kiosk in Nayagaon, they realised that a trunk containing Rs39 lakh was missing following which they informed their senior officials.

The matter was reported to the police following which all four employees were called for questioning at the Sector 31 police station, where they claimed that they were innocent.

Surinder’s brother-in-law Diwan Singh alleged that Surinder was being called for questioning daily and was being harassed by the police. “He was questioned for hours every day, leading to stress,” Diwan said. On Sunday, a case was registered under Section 380 of the IPC against unknown persons at the Sector 31 police station on a complaint of Bhupinder Singh, custodian at the CMS company.

Surinder, a resident of Sector 47, left home in the night and when he did not return, his family started searching for him. “Since Surinder was in stress, his family went looking for him at the nearby railway track and found that he had committed suicide,” Diwan said. Inspector Narinder Patial, SHO of the Sector 31 police station, refuted the allegations of harassment.