7 BIGGEST HEIST IN INDIA

INTRODUCTION:-

A fraud causes a large impact on the entire community because big frauds or heist as they are popularly know as are the ones in which public is involved. India has largely experienced this ongoing heists since before Independence. At that time Britain took over the Indian markets and today we see Indian being the looters themselves.

It is fun to watch shows like Money Heist on NETFIIX, but have to ever read or heard about robberies that occurred in India.

Here are some of the top Heist in India

1.$45 TRILLION HEIST BY THE BRITISHER

Prior to the colonial period, Britain used to purchase textiles and rice from India and paid them in silver just like they used to pay in other countries.

It was through trade system them the Britain plotted to exploit India. The establishment of East India Company took control of the subcontinent and established monopoly over Indian trade.

The East India Company collected taxes from India, and then used about third to purchase Indian goods for British use. In short, the Britain paid for the Indian goods from the money that was collected from Indians itself. Thus, the goods purchased from India was taken free of cost by the Britain.

Indians were unaware of the strategy of the Britain. Since the persons who collected taxes and persons who purchased goods were different persons. This too was planned by the Britain. The goods purchased in India were at time re-exported by the Britain to the other countries, this re-export system allowed the finance flow of imports from Europe, which included materials like iron, tar and timber which were essential to Britain’s industrialization. The Britain used to sell the stolen goods to the other countries for much higher price than that bought by them from the Indians.

Eventually, the British took over in 1858. As the monopoly of East India Company broke down, the Indians were allowed to export their goods directly to the other countries but it was made sure by the Britain that the payments were acquired in London. This was done by making anyone who wants to buy goods from India to sign a bill which was available only in London and which was to be bought by giving gold or silver. So traders who intended to buy from India, used to pay gold or silver to the Britain for the bill and then pay via bill to the Indians. When Indians cashed the bill they were paid out of the revenues collected from them in rupees. Thus, Indians barely got anything while Britain was paid in gold and silver.

Therefore even though India had good export of goods, the revenue earned by them was very low as all the revenue was appropriated by the Britain.

Britain also used to fuel the engines of imperial violence-funding the invasion of China in the 1840s and the suppression of the Indian Rebellion in 1857. There were many other dealings made by the Britain using Indian finance which ultimately drained its economy which are eye-watering sums. If India had invested its own tax revenues, it would have become an economy powerhouse. There would been no poverty and sufferings.

Utsa Patnaik, an economist historian, set out her research in 2017 establishing that the Britain colonial regime looted nearly $45 trillion from India from 1765 to 1938. This amount being 15 times the GDP of the UK today. There is no enough money in all of the Britain to cover the sums that are looted from India. Thus, Patnaik research clearly states ‘Britain did not develop India rather India developed Britain’.

2.PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK-RS. 100 CRORE

A very smart mind involved in the heist of Punjab Nation Bank. In the year 2014, four robbers dug a tunnel in the nearby unoccupied house beside the Punjab Nation Bank. They then through that tunnel made an entry into the Ban over the weekend and looted valuables worth Rs. 100 crore.

The incident came to light on Monday when the bank was opened by its then manager Devendra Malik.

It was few days later that the robbers were arrested but the main mastermind of the plan was found dead.

The investigating officers blamed the bank authorizes as no proper care was taken regarding keeping proper safety for the locker rooms. The locker room of the bank was just an ordinary cement floor which was easily dug by the robbers.

Out of the 350 lockers, 77 were cleaned up by the robbers. It was a good fortune that all the jewelry was recovered but the cash was never recovered.

3. CHENNAI EXPRESS ROBBERY-RS. 350 CRORES

The Reserve Bank of India and the Indian Railway Police in 2016 were transporting over Rs. 350 crores in solied notes that was to be destroyed from the Salem-Chennai Egmore Express.

The starting point was Salem, where the two carriages were filled with the notes and one bogey was occupied by the RBI officials and the Railway Police.

A group of seven robbers, had cut through the roof of the coach which has all the solied notes and managed to steal around Rs. 5.75 crores

But to their misfortune, PM Narendra Modi had announced demonetization, rendering the notes invalid. After two years, the robbers were finally caught. They claimed to have bought immovable properties for Rs. 1.78 crore in their native village in MP and burned Rs. 2 crore of the cash as they were unable to deposit it in the bank.

4.TRIBHOVANDAS BHIMJI ZHAVERI (TBZ)- 36 LAKH

Mohan Singh as he was known was the master mind behind the heist of TBZ, he had come up with an ad in the newspaper in 1987 seeking ‘intelligence officers and post and security officers’.

The applicants who got through had no idea that they were going to be part of the heist to aid and abet Mohan Singh to execute his plan.

Mohan Singh presented to the applicants that they were to set a trial raid for the purpose of training. At the site aided by fake government insignia and following proper CBI procedure, Mohan Singh entered the famous jewelry store in the bustling Opera House area in broad daylight along with the team he had prepared.

He then ordered the shutters to be closed and CCTV camera to be shut down and asked the security guard to hand over his pistol.

He then bagged and tagged jewelry with fake government seals. After he had taken enough for himself, he informed his team that he would visit next spot for another raid. But he never returned.

Despite of search which extended to other countries also, Mohan Singh was nowhere to be found.

A rough figure of 36 lakhs was given for the stolen amount and jewelry.

The storyline of the movie ‘Special 26’ is a make of heist at TBZ.

5.TELGI SCAM- RS. 20K CRORE

In 1999, Telgi was jailed for the offence of forgery at Marg Police Station. It was during his stay in the jail he met Ram Ratan Soni, a government stamp vendor who was operating from Kolkata. After having interacting with the vendor, the idea of selling duplicate stamp paper crossed his mind.

This scam was covered in 12 states and estimate amount of Rs. 20k crores more was covered. His business grew to other cities quite fast. Corrupt politicians and bureaucrats were also involved in this scam.

Abdul Karim Telgi was later convicted for Indian counterfeiter of Indian stamp papers.

With all the money he had acquired from the scam, he alleged owned 36 properties and more than 100 bank accounts in 18 major cities.

6.Mithilesh Kumar Srivastava AKA Natwarlal (India Robbers Hall of Famer)

In India people who were great con man were known as ‘Natwarlal’. Mithilesh Kumar Srivastava is considered the greatest con man in the history of India. He was first a lawyer who had ability to forge signature. His skill of convincing someone into believing fake news to be real.

Natwarlal committed some of the most notorious robberies and ranked India’s best con man.

He ‘sold’ the Taj Mahal three times as well as India’s parliament building with hundreds of members sitting in the building at the time of sale.

He has also tricked India’s billionaires like Dhirubhai Ambani, the Birla's, and the Tatas which secured him crores.

Natwarlal made history of his own, he was wanted by eight states, arrested nine times and had about 100 charges against him.

His last escape was at the age of eight-four.

7.SAMSUNG TRUCK HEIST DELHI- RS. 250 CRORES

In 2015, a truck carrying integrated circuits, chips and motherboards worth Rs. 26.1 crore which was to be used for phone worth Rs. 250 crore was halted by a group of robbers on 1st April, 2015. The robbers beat the driver and his assistant and ran away with the truck.

After taking away the truck, the robbers had put of the truck’s GPS so that he can’t be tracked. After the incident was reported, the search for the truck began. And before the containers could be accessed and goods sold, the accused were arrested.

Pramod, who was a former employee of the transport company was the alleged mastermind who was aware of the schedule of the truck which made him plan the heist.

It’s disheartening to know that the Indians being blessed with so much of skills and talent which can be made use for the well-being of the country but rather it is being used for the purpose of destruction.