Bangalore cops crack ATM van dacoity

Bangalore, Jun 15: Police claim to ha­ve cracked the sensational he­ist of Rs.1.91-crore from a vehicle carrying cash to load an ATM at RT Nagar, after arresti­ng five men, part of an all-India gang.

The 13 men teamed up at the Arthur Road Prison in Mumbai, formed the gang, and hatched the plot, police said. They are on the lookout for the eight others who are said to be in possession of a big part of the loot.

On May 14, a van carrying Rs 1.91 crore money belonging to the Corporation Bank to fill in the ATMs’ was attacked and and the money was looted.

Of the five arrested, Fuzail Ahmed Sheik, 26, is from Mumbai and is accused in a dacoity ca­se there, while Karu­na­kara from Hassan is facing ch­a­rges of robbery and dacoity in Mumbai and Nasik. Jay­ap­rakash and Santosh Kumar from Be­l­t­hangadi, are accused in a dacoity case in Mumbai and Mahesh of Kodagu, is an accused in a daco­ity case in Mulki, Dakshina Kannada.

The police have recovered Rs 32.15 lakh cash, gold jewellery worth Rs 3 lakh, a car and other valuables, in all worth about Rs 50 lakh from their possession.

Police Commissioner B G Jyothiprakash Mirji told mediapersons that the 13 men were serving sentences at the Arthur Road prison between 2005 and 2008, when they teamed up. The gang members hailed from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Once out on bail, they ke­pt in touch.

Sources said the RT Nagar dacoity was meticulously planned. Three of the gang members rented a house in the locality for about two months. They kept a watch on the movements of the ATM cash vehicle.

Once the final action plan was ready, the rest of the team joined in. They got two cars for the purpose. One that was found aband­oned on the day of crime was stolen from Maharashtra, and the other that police seized from one of the five arrested, was from Gujarat.

Driving in two vehicles,the gang got the cash-carrying vehicle sandwiched between them, intimidated the men escorting the cash, and assaulted them. In the ensuing melee, they sped away with the huge cash bounty.