NEW DELHI: Delhi Police’s Special Cell has arrested two key members of a Mewat-based gang, which is estimated to have looted Rs 2.1 crore in 12 cases of ATM break-ins in Delhi and Haryana in the past few months. The arrested men have been identified as Sohrab and Shakeel, residents of Nuh in Haryana.
“The suspects were arrested by a team comprising inspector Shiv Kumar, SI Rajesh and others,” DCP Pramod Kushwaha said.
Police said, they had received specific information that Sohrab was hiding in the area of Kaama in Rajasthan and would pass through Silkho Toll Plaza in Nuh around 4am on Friday. “We had information that Sohrab would go to Mewat to meet his contact. A police team was accordingly deployed near the toll plaza and when Sohrab was spotted at 4.30 am in a taxi, he was intercepted and caught,” Pramod Kushwah, DCP, Special Cell said.
Sohrab disclosed that he was an active member of two Mewat-based interstate gangs of ATM robbers. “He said that he and seven other gang members, including kingpin Shahid Advani, uprooted eight ATMs in Delhi and Haryana in the year 2019. Sohrab was absconding for two years and he was not attending the courts in all these above cases. Process to declare him proclaimed offender in these cases is going on,” the officer said.
The main role of Sohrab was to examine the ATM installations and decide whether the ATMs were to be cut open with the help of a gas cutter, or to be uprooted, police said.
Shakeel was trapped near Malviya Nagar. After being cornered, the suspect whipped out his pistol and tried to fire but he was overpowered and disarmed by the members of a police team. A semi-automatic pistol of .315 bore and five live cartridges were recovered from the accused.
Members of the gang used to spray black paint on CCTV cameras after entering ATM booths. They would then open the ATMs with the help of a gas cutter and remove the cash cabins. After removing cash, they used to throw away parts of ATMs. At times, they would use an SUV to uproot an entire ATM by tying ropes around it.