ATM heists kingpin nabbed in Rajasthan

The special team nabbed Islamudin (43) when he visited his girlfriend’s house in Rajasthan on Wednesday night. In December last year, Islamudin managed to give the slip to Tamil Nadu cops even as eight members of his gang, hailing from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar, were arrested after a hot chase by police in Namakkal and Salem districts. 

The gang had broken open two ATMs in Peelamedu in Coimbatore district December last year and fled with Rs 30 lakh in cash. The police were able to recover only Rs 3 lakh from the gang as Islamudin escaped with the remaining Rs 27 lakh. The kingpin and his associates were involved in more than 34 cases of armed robbery and dacoity in various states, including Delhi, Haryana, UP, MP, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The gang also used to target trucks transporting copper wires from godowns and sell them to scrap dealers. 

Besides his role in many sensational cases of armed dacoity and kidnapping, Islamudin also faces several cases of attack on policemen, who were part of operations to arrest him in various places. 

“We got a tip off that Islamudin might visit his hometown in Haryana. But, he was suspicious of the police presence and cancelled the visit. We once again got information that he might come to Rajasthan to meet his girlfriend,” said a police officer involved in the case. 

This time, local informers, who kept a close watch, confirmed his arrival and alerted the police. Based on the information provided by them, a special team along with Rajasthan cops arrested him at gun point on Wednesday night. The special team acted with great caution on Wednesday as the gangsters have attacked policemen many times and even damaged their vehicles by pelting stones and indiscriminate firing. The police team is expected to bring Islamudin to Coimbatore for an inquiry. Police said that he was part of a 15-member gang and his arrest is a crucial development in the case. 

The Coimbatore city police on Thursday arrested a seven-member gang from Mumbai, which posed as police personnel and involved in attention-diversion thefts. Following largescale complaints from residents that a gang of fake cops was robbing elderly persons under the pretext of helping them to keep the jewels safe, special teams were formed to nab the tricksters. 

The modus operandi of the gang was to replace the jewels with pebbles and cheat the elders. Meanwhile, acting on a waylaying complaint lodged by B Ramesh Kumar (42) of RS Puram, the police caught seven persons during a vehicle check in Ukkadam on Thursday. 

They were identified as A Yasar Ali (47), A Thagi Ali (43), N Feroz Ali Syed (36), S Shahid Ali (28), H Sabeer Ali (32), B Aslam Bijath Jaffar (60) and R Rakesh Ravindar Sharma (27). The gang had earlier robbed 2.5 sovereigns of jewels from Ramesh Kumar by brandishing a knife on Sullivan Street on Wednesday afternoon. Later, they sped away in two bikes and a car. This incident took place in broad daylight triggering panic among the residents. A case was registered at the Variety Hall police station. 

Following their arrest, police recovered 41.5 sovereigns of jewels from the gang members, who were involved in eight theft cases in Coimbatore and four more in other parts of the state. Police said the details of the accused had been sent to State Crime Records Bureau and an inquiry is on to find out other crimes committed by them elsewhere.