The police believes the arrested mastermind, Javed, knows where the rest of the looted money has been hidden.
Published May 05, 2023 | 12:19 PM ⚊ Updated May 05, 2023 | 12:21 PM
The gang robbed four ATMs in Tamil Nadu of nearly ₹80 lakh. Representational image. (iStock).
The mastermind of the sensational Tiruvannamalai ATM heists has been arrested by a Tamil Nadu special police team near the Rajasthan-Haryana border.
Acting on a tip-off, the 30-year-old suspect, J Asif Javed, who was hiding in a dilapidated building, was secured by the police team and ₹15 lakh in cash was recovered from him.
The team will seek a transit warrant on Thursday, 4 May, to bring the accused to Tamil Nadu.
Javed, who hails from Nuh taluk in Mewat district of Haryana, is said to be the mastermind of the heist.
On 12 February, the gang of unidentified burglars had cut open four ATMs in Tiruvannamalai district and looted ₹79.79 lakh in cash.
The Tamil Nadu police had then said it suspected an out-of-state gang for the robberies.
An ATM of State Bank of India which was cut open by gas welding machine. (supplied)
According to the police, Javed with his six-member gang planned and executed the heist while they were staying at KGF in Karnataka.
The team had conducted dry-runs at the targeted ATMs days before executing the robberies, and had even made a detailed map chalking out their escape route from the state.
After the sensational robberies, among the biggest heists in Tamil Nadu, the police formed seven teams that found an inter-state gang was involved in the heist.
During the investigation, the police learned that similar heists with the same modus operandi had been registered in Delhi and Haryana.
With the help of CCTV cameras, the police also found that the gang, after the robbery, headed to KGF in Karnataka.
Based on the investigation, on 17 February, two persons — 35-year-old Mohammed Arif and 37-year-old Azad — were arrested in Nuh district of Haryana.
An ATM of India One, that was cut open by burglars. (Supplied)
On the basis of the interrogation of the arrested duo, the police special team, on 20 February, arrested two more persons — P Basha (43) and his associate, P Afsar Hussian (26) — who were hiding in Kolar in Karnataka.
The police subsequently arrested four more persons in connection with the case and recovered a total of ₹20 lakh in cash from them.
Three cars and a lorry were also seized from the accused.
The interrogation of all the accused revealed that one Asif Javed, was the mastermind of the robbery.
According to police, Javed, distributed a part of the looted money among his gang members and had stayed on in KGF for a few days.
He later took a flight from Bengaluru to Gujarat. After the arrests of his associates, Javed was constantly changing his hideout, the police said.
The police monitored Javed’s movements using mobile signals and through local sources. The police also said that only Javed knows the location of the remaining looted cash.
The special team of Tamil Nadu police is moving a transit warrant to shift Javed to Tamil Nadu for further enquiry, a DSP level officer told South First
On 12 February, Javed and his gang had looted four ATMs located on the Cuddalore-Chittoor stretch of NH 38, within a radius of 40 km.
Of the four ATMs, three belonged to the State Bank of India, and one to India One.
The gang used a gas-welding machine to cut open the ATMs and also damaged all the CCTV cameras in the kiosks.
They escaped to KGF in a car.
