Biggest Train Robbery in India on 8 August 2016

On 8 August 2016, India witnessed its biggest train robbery ever. Robbers of the Pardi gang from Madhya Pradesh stole ₹5.80 crore by cutting the roof of a moving train. This robbery was executed nearly 1800 km away from Madhya Pradesh in Tamil Nadu. This daring incident is remembered as the largest train robbery in independent India’s history.

The money being transported belonged to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Around ₹342 crore in cash was packed in 226 wooden boxes and loaded into a specially reserved coach of the Salem–Chennai Egmore Express (11064). 18 policemen were traveling in the adjacent bogie of the train. But even with this heavy security, the robbers managed to pull off the heist.

On August 8, 2016, a cash load of currency was transported from Indian Overseas Bank in Salem to Reserve Bank of India in Chennai. A railway parcel van VPH 08831 was attached to Salem – Chennai Egmore Express train. The train left Salem junction at 9.05 pm and arrived at Egmore at 3.55 am on August 9.

The train left Salem at 9 pm, and the cash coach was placed right behind the engine. Later at Virudhachalam, when the engine was changed, this cash coach was shifted to the last position of the train. By the time it reached Chennai the next morning at 4 am, the robbery had already been completed.

Shockingly, nobody realized anything during the journey. The theft was only discovered when the train reached the yard, and RBI officials came to collect the cash. They noticed a 2-square-foot hole in the roof, the cut-out metal piece lying inside, scattered currency notes, and 4 boxes opened—one empty and one half-empty.

The parcel van was opened around 11 am by RBI officials and they found that Rs 5.78 crore had been stolen from the van after making a hole in the roof.

So, how was this Robbery done?

Led by Mohar Singh Pardi from Guna, Madhya Pradesh, eight robbers of the gang carried out the robbery. For eight days, they had travelled on the train to conduct a recce, carefully observing the route and security patterns. They decided to execute robbery between Chinna Salem and Virudhachalam, because the train runs for over 45 minutes through a dark, isolated area here.

On the night of the robbery, the gang members climbed onto the roof of the train. They knew that between Salem and Chinna Salem the train ran on an electric engine, but after that, it switched to diesel, which meant fewer sparks on the roof and less chance of being noticed.

Using a battery-operated cutter, they cut open the metal roof of the cash coach. One robber went inside, broke open the wooden boxes, and started passing out bundles of currency notes, which were wrapped in undergarments to avoid suspicion. These were handed over to other gang members waiting on the roof. At certain points, they threw the cash bundles onto the ground, where more accomplices were waiting by the tracks to collect them. After finishing, the men on the roof jumped off the moving train and fled.

When the investigation began, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) were clueless. It was suspected that insiders who knew the train’s loading and movement pattern were involved. The probe was then handed over to the CID. Investigators interrogated thousands of people, checked lakhs of phone call records, and even sought help from NASA, which provided satellite imagery to pinpoint the area where the roof had been cut.

Finally, after two years of investigation, on 30 August 2018, the culprits were identified and caught. The trail led to Madhya Pradesh, where the gang was based. One by one, the 8 accused were arrested. However, by then, much of the stolen money had already been dumped in a river. Why? Because just three months after the robbery, demonetization was announced on 8 November 2016, making old ₹500 and ₹1000 notes worthless. The gang panicked and disposed of most of the stolen cash.

Thus, what could have been a massive windfall for the robbers turned into a near-worthless theft. Yet, the daring and unique method of the crime makes it a landmark case in India’s criminal history—the biggest train robbery the country has ever seen.