Truck-borne ATM robbery gang nabbed in inter-district joint ops

The accused, identified as Sajid, Arshad and Lukman and a juvenile from Nug and Mehwat areas in Haryana, were arrested when they reached Elavur checkpost on Friday night. A truck, gas cutters that they used to cut open ATM machines and Rs 45,000 in cash were seized from them.

Police said Sajid already has similar cases pending against him in Maharashtra, but he was part of different gangs then. Arshad has theft cases against him in Haryana.

On September 15, a group of men attempted to steal cash from an ATM in Arambakkam but escaped in a car after noticing police. When the police chased the car, they abandoned it near Elavur and escaped. Investigation revealed that the car was stolen from Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Rs 4 lakh was burgled from an ATM in Arakkonam on September 17. As the modus operandi was similar, police grew suspicious and checked the last transaction at both ATMs and found out the money was withdrawn from the same account.

When they obtained the details of the account holder, including phone number, officials identified the man as Sajid. After the mobile phone tower location matched with the car theft spot, too, police confirmed that the same gang was behind all three incidents.

Officials also found out that Sajid travelled in a truck to Gummidipoondi and retrieved its registration number. CCTV footage revealed that the truck has travelled through all three crime spots.

On Friday, after the phone was found moving towards Gummidipoondi, the Arambakkam police were alerted. It was intercepted at night and four persons, including a minor, were arrested.

Arakkonam DSP Pugazhendhi Ganesh said that the gang would look for lone ATMs with less security. “One of them would visit the ATM first and spray paint on the cameras, and the rest would follow him and carry out the loot with a gas cutter,” said the officer. Three accused were remanded in judicial custody and the minor was sent to the observation home.