Saudi-based businessman forgets currency worth Rs 15 lakh in hired taxi, driver splurges on jewels for wife

Chennai

Desperately searching for the taxi driver who went away with his bag that contained Saudi Arabian riyals worth Rs 16.5 lakh, it was providential for a businessman from Kerala to be at the right place at the right time. 

The man was present with the Railway police team when the driver was hauled up there for another petty traffic offense, helping the officers to crack the case without sweat. By then, however, the man had spent much of the money on buying gold for his wife and also to pay lease for his house.  

Abdul Rasheed (40), a leather businessman from Valiyapally in Kozhikode, Kerala, reached Chennai on Blue Mountain Express around 5 am on April 13 and hired a cab to airport to board a flight to Saudi Arabia. 

It was only after he checked in that he realised the bag containing Saudi Arabian currency, worth Rs 16.6 lakh, was missing. However, as it was very late, Rasheed was forced to board the flight. 

On Sunday, he returned to Chennai and informed the airport authorities about the missing bag. When the CCTV footage was verified, it showed him entering the airport without the bag. Rasheed then visited Chennai Central and complained to the railway police. There, as the officers were getting ready to check the CCTV footages from April 13, another railway police team brought in a  couple of taxi drivers who were booked for parking violations.

Rasheed noticed that the driver who dropped them at the airport – later identified as Madan Kumar (39) of Choolai – was among them and alerted the railway police. The officers took Madan Kumar to the police station. During inquiry, he admitted that Abdul Rasheed had left his bag in the car. 

When the police grilled him further, he admitted to having exchanged the foreign currency for Rs 12 lakh after waiting for two days. Using the money, Madan bought jewels for Rs 1.5 lakh for his wife, also paid another Rs 5.5 lakh to his house owner to lease his house and spent another Rs 1 lakh. Police seized remaining Rs 4 lakh and the jewels from his wife, and remanded Madan Kumar in judicial custody. 

Police sources said if Abdul Rasheed had not recognised Madan Kumar on Sunday, it would have taken longer to crack the case. When contacted, Abdul Rasheed said he could not file a complaint regarding the incident on April 13 as he was in a rush.