Thieves take away ATM having Rs 7 lakh

NEW DELHI: A gang of ATM thieves decamped with a machine reportedly having approximately Rs 7 lakh in cash. Instead of uprooting the machine, the robbers convinced the shop owner by posing as bank officials and emptied the kiosk in full public view in south Delhi’s Maidan Garhi.
The miscreants were arrested on Saturday from northwest Delhi’s Siraspur and the cash vending machine was recovered from a warehouse.

The incident came to light on January 13, three days after the robbery, when bank officials contacted the shop owner. A case was subsequently registered but cops had no clue about the location of the machine or the crooks.

The shop owner, Satya Kaushik, told the police that he had rented his shop on a five-year lease to a bank for them to setup an ATM kiosk. Since the lease had recently expired, Kaushik claimed to have got a notice from the bank, which stated that officials would soon be taking away the machine and all other equipment.

On January 10, a group of men arrived in pick-up claiming to be bank officials, who were to remove the cash-vending machine. Kaushik gave the go-ahead and oversaw the men removing not just the ATM, but batteries and the internet antenna on the terrace of the shop as well.

The accused then drove away with the machine and told Kaushik that he could contact senior bank officials later on. Three days later, the shop owner got a call from the bank asking him about the machine. A shocked Kaushik informed them that ‘bank officials’ had already taken the ATM.

After registering the FIR, investigating teams scanned the CCTV footage and obtained the addresses of the three vehicles used in the crime. Cops then raided a warehouse in northwest Delhi’s Siraspur and nabbed one Vishal Muljani, the manager of a transport firm.

After Muljani’s interrogation, the remaining accused, identified as Ranjan Pandey, Mahender Pal, Baljinder Kumar, Ankit and Anshuman Maan, were arrested. The teams also recovered the machine and the cash kept in it.