Van carrying gold jewels worth Rs 666 cr overturns in tragic incident

A private container carrying Rs 666 Crore worth 810 kilogram gold jewels capsized at Chitode near Erode late on Monday night.

According to police, a container belonging to a private logistics firm loaded with the jewels proceeded from Coimbatore last night to Salem. When the vehicle came near Samathuvapuram near here, the driver Sasikumar lost control over the vehicle when he was negotiating a turning which led to it capsizing, police said.

In the incident, the driver Sasikumar and armed security Balraj fell down and sustained serious injuries. On getting information, the Chitode police rushed to the spot, removed the injured persons and admitted them to a hospital nearby. The gold jewels kept inside the container were not affected, police said.

The consignee and consignor learnt about the incident and sent a new truck and security guard to the spot. They removed the gold jewels from the capsized vehicle into the new one and left for Salem.

Chitode police registered a case and are investigating it.