Two held by Vizag police for Rs 27 lakh ATM theft in Bhubaneswar
BHUBANSWAR: The case involving robbery of Rs 27 lakh from an ATM near KIIT Square here on October 10 has been solved with the arrest of two by the Vizag police. While the arrest was made on October 22, a dayafter they stole Rs 9 lakh from an ATM in the Andhra city, the commissionerate police made the announcement on Friday.
The accused have been identified as Samar Jyot Singh (35) from Punjab and Zafar Sadeeq (28) from Kerala. The commissionerate police have initiated the process to take them on remand.
Commissioner of police Sudhanshu Sarangi said it was extremely difficult to make headway in the investigation as the ATM’s CCTV footage was unclear. The accused broke open the machine by using a gas cutter and stole the cash.
“Our special squad, led by assistant commissioner of police Sanjeev Satapathy, did a commendable job. They got a clue after scanning a number of CCTV cameras in the city. We tracked a bike that was taken by the accused on rent and that gave us further lead,” Sarangi said.
As per the police, the accused reached Bhubaneswar from Kolkata on October 5 and checked into a hotel in Patia area. They rented a gas cylinder from Mancheswar area and brought it to the hotel. When questioned by the hotel staff regarding the duo’s motive, the accused moved to another hotel in the same area.
“The accused conducted a recce at the unguarded ATM and found that it had no security alert system. After committing the crime, they returned the bike and boarded a flight to Delhi on October 11. CCTV cameras at the Biju Patnaik international airport captured their images. They kept changing locations and flew to Chandigarh, Bangalore and Vizag in the next few days,” Sarangi said.
However, the police did not reveal how the two managed to move all the cash at the airports.
Police said it was overconfidence that led to the duo’s identification. The accused had furnished original identity proofs at the hotels and the place where they rented the bike.
Sources said the police had shared CCTV images with their counterparts in different states and got information from Vizag police about the duo’s arrest. During interrogation, the accused confessed to have committed the ATM robbery in Bhubaneswar.
Police said the accused were school dropouts and had been operating from Bangalore. “We have come to know that the accused were arrested in Bangalore earlier in connection with an ATM theft and narcotics smuggling case,” Sarangi said.