A day after securing the custody of two accused in the twin ATM burglary case at Irumpanam and Koratty, the police started collection of evidence on Wednesday.
Haneef Khan, 37, of Mewat in Haryana and Nazeem Akbar, 24, of Jurehra in Rajasthan, the first and the third accused in the case respectively, were taken to the State Bank of India ATM at Irumpanam, which the six-member gang had broken into and looted ₹25 lakh.
“They explained the modus operandi they followed to enter and steal the cash. They had taken five cash trays used for storing ₹500 and ₹2,000 notes in the ATM on the pick-up van they had stolen for the execution of the burglary,” said T. Uthamdas, Inspector of Police, Hill Station, and the head of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that cracked the case.
After shifting the cash from the tray to a bag, they had dumped the trays on the way to Kalamassery. The police recovered two out of the five trays from a bush along a secluded stretch on the Seaport-Airport Road.
A seven-member police team led by Mr. Uthamdas and Sub Inspector K.R. Biju collected evidence on Wednesday.
Pappu Palsingh aka Pappy, who was arrested by the Delhi Crime Branch in a motorcycle theft case and lodged in Tihar Jail, could not be produced before the Thripunithura court as planned initially. “He has 19 cases against him and his custody was procured by another police team. Now, we will file an application in the court for a fresh date for his custody,” said Mr. Uthamdas.
The police are likely to take the two accused along their escape route on Thursday.