Delhi Police busts gang involved in ATM thefts, 5 arrested

Delhi crime: In a major success to the Delhi police, a gang was busted for being allegedly involved in stealing around Rs 15 lakh from an ATM at Sarai Rohilla police station area. The police said they arrested five members of the gang and also recovered Rs 14.90 lakh from their possession.

Speaking to the media, Deputy Commissioner of Police (north) Sagar Singh Kalsi said that the members of "Azad's gang" travelled in stolen SUVs with bogus number plates and only masked themselves while committing the crime, as opposed to the majority of ATM thieves who tamper with CCTV cameras, remove digital video recorders or displace the ATM machines.

The deceased were identified as Farman (27), a resident of Bulandshahar in Uttar Pradesh, Mohammad Dara (58) from Karawal Nagar, and Wasim (32) from Nand Nagri, and Imran (25) and Arman (20) from Usmanpur. They claimed to have also recovered 17 number plates of different vehicles, 15 screwdrivers, one toolbox, 10 pliers, one wire cutter and a hammer from the criminals. 

PNB manager filed a complaint

According to information, the police swung into action after Sarvesh Kumar Yadav, the second branch manager of Punjab National Bank, Shahjada Bagh Branch, Sarai Rohilla, filed a complaint. An inquiry was started after a case was filed in response to the complaint. The police squad examined the area and reviewed the CCTV footage from near the crime scene. The video footage made it clear that the suspect had arrived in a grey or black Creta car to carry out the crime.

However, from the footage, neither the car's registration number nor the faces of the accused were clearly visible. However, a scanning of the CCTV footage nearby led the police to Inder Lok Metro Station. In one of the cameras, the car's registration number was visible, and, on while searching for the registered owner of the car on the relevant portal, the number was found to be of a Brezza SUV.

Police examined CCTV footage

Police said it was, thus, apparent that the Creta car had a fake number plate. On enquiry from the owner of the Brezza, who the police identified as Sanjeev Kumar Sehrawal, it was revealed that the number plate of his car was stolen in the intervening night of 1 and 2 July and an FIR was also registered at Adrash Nagar police station. The officers said that they started scanning CCTV cameras of Majlis Park from where the Brezza was stolen. They found that the suspects had come in the Creta. It turned out that the Creta was also stolen from the Rohini area on June 29.

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The CCTV footage of that area was scanned and the investigators found that the thieves had arrived in a red Swift, but it had the registration number plate of a Baleno. "Our team members then focused on the routes taken by the Swift. We eventually traced its original registration and found that it was registered in the name of one Farman, a resident of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh. Farman was interrogated and confessed to the crime. His interrogation led to the arrest of four other accused and the recovery of Rs14.90 lakh, last week. They revealed that they had committed a similar ATM theft at Ranjeet Nagar on July 2," added DCP Kalsi.

(With ANI inputs)