Cuttack: Seven members of a gang have been arrested for allegedly looting Rs 1.5 crore from an ATM van at Tigiria in Odisha’s Cuttack district in November last year.
Those arrested include the kingpin identified as Kalim Khan.
Briefing the media, SP (rural) Mihir Kumar Panda on Tuesday said that two employees of the ATM vehicle had plotted the loot and provided information to Khan regarding the route. “The staffers had lost huge amounts of money in online gaming and shared information with the criminals in view to make up for the loss. Besides the route, they had told them that vehicle’s CCTV was not functioning and no chain was attached to the cash trunk,” he said.
The SP further said that the entire plan was well executed by the criminals as some members of the gang also kept a watch on road and tracked the movement of police. “The criminals had conducted recee and had to abort attempts to loot cash from cash van twice earlier due to timing mismatch,” he said.
Over Rs 64 lakh cash, two-wheelers and sharp weapons have been recovered from them. “The SUV used in the crime was dismantled and disposed of in a canal,” the SP said.
“All the accused who were part of the conspiracy have been identified and they will be arrested soon,” he said, adding that two more accused are still at large.
The incident took place on Godijharia Nua Sadak Road around 1.45 pm on November 10, 2023. The van was on its way to Tigiria after loading cash in a public sector bank ATM at Godijharia seven masked miscreants, carrying firearms, intercepted it and decamped with the cash trunk. The miscreants had also removed the number plates from their getaway vehicles.
