Bharuch police on Wednesday arrested a member of the gang that allegedly took away an ATM machine containing Rs 4.27 lakh from Ankleshwar in Bharuch on November 15.
According to police, the gang loaded the machine from an ATM centre near Navjivan Hotel on national highway 48 on to a pick-up van and escaped on November 15.
A complaint of theft of cash Rs 4.27 lakh and machine valued at Rs 5.77 lakh was lodged at Ankleshwar police station.
Bharuch Local Crime Branch police on Wednesday arrested Hanif Mewati, a resident of Keshrol village in Bharuch and working in a hotel on Bharuch-Dahej road. They also recovered Rs 9,000 in cash and a mobile phone from his possession.
Talking to the Indian Express, Bharuch LCB inspector JN Zala said, “We worked on human intelligence and technical surveillance to arrest one of the seven gang members involved in the theft. On November 13, they tried to steal an ATM machine in Olpad town in Surat but had to abandon it as the machine was heavy.”
“The gang members hired a pick up van from Jolva village in Dahej taluka to load the ATM machine. On November 14, they did a recce of the ATM centre and escaped with the machine late in the night when the security guard was not around,” the inspector added.
Zala said that the gang members distributed the cash among themselves. “Other gang members left for Mewat in Haryana, while Hanif remained in Bharuch. We are looking for the other accused,” he added.