Chennai: Terminal staffer on run after bid to steal container with Dell laptops worth Rs 35 crore; six held
The stolen container with 5,230 laptops was part of a consignment that reached the Chennai port from China on September 7 and was kept in the yard
The stolen container with 5,230 laptops; (r) six of the accomplices of the main accused who were arrested
CHENNAI: A container terminal worker's ill-planned get-rich-quick scheme which involved stealing a container of Dell Notebook laptops worth Rs 35 crore from Chennai Port was busted by the city police and six of his accomplices are now behind bars.
The stolen container with 5,230 laptops was part of a consignment that reached the Chennai port from China on September 7 and was kept in the yard. On September 11, when the freight forwarding company's trailer came to pick up the container containing the laptops from the yard, it was found that the container was missing.
On going through port documents, it was found that the said container had left the port during the early hours of September 10.
Ilavarasan, a staff of the Chennai International Terminal Private Ltd which handles container loading and unloading at Chennai port had prepared all necessary documents using the login credentials of a senior official in the company and facilitated the exit of the container from the port.
Harbour police registered a case based on a complaint from P Pon Esakkiyappan, Operations Manager-CITPL and launched a search for Ilavarasan and the stolen container. Going through CCTV footage, the police teams found that the container was taken to Manavalan Nagar in neighbouring Tiruvallur district.
"After taking the 40-foot container, the gang had shifted the items in the original container to two 20-foot container trucks. They were ready to pay over Rs 1 lakh per truck for the trip to Bengaluru," said a police officer.
A team led by Harbour Inspector Silambu Selvan apprehended six suspects – T Muthuraj (46) of Dinidgul; K Rajesh (39), N Napoleon (46) and A Sivabalan (44) of Tiruvottiyur; S Palraj (31) and G Manikandan (31) from Tiruvallur – and recovered 5,207 laptops.
The main accused Ilavarasan is yet to be apprehended. A senior police officer said the city police acted swiftly and recovered the consignment before Ilavarasan could strike a deal in Mumbai, where he is suspected to be holed up. A police team has been formed to apprehend Ilavarasan and two others.