CHENNAI: More than 103 kg of gold worth at least 45 million rupees seized in a raid by the CBI and kept in his “safe custody” has disappeared. This was made public on Friday when the Madras High Court ordered an investigation into Tamil naduCB-CID.
The missing gold is part of 400.5 kg of bullion and ornaments seized by the CBI in 2012 when it raided the office of Surana Corporation Ltd in Chennai. The gold was kept in the safes and vaults of Surana under the lock and seal of the CBI.
The central agency said it had handed over the 72 keys to the safes and vaults to Chennai’s main special court for CBI cases. The CBI claimed that during the seizure, the gold bars were weighed in their entirety, but while they were being delivered to the liquidator, appointed for a debt settlement between Surana and the OSE, it was weighed individually and that was the reason for the discrepancy.
Refusing to accept the submission, Judge Prakash ordered a CB-CID investigation by an officer in the rank of SP to be completed in six months. The CBI told Judge Prakash that his prestige would “go down” if the investigation is carried out by local police.
To which Judge Prakash said: “… the law does not sanction such an inference. All police officers should be trusted, and it is not in your mouth to say that CBI has special horns, while local police only have one tail . ”
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