KOCHI: The police team probing the ATM robberies at Irumpanam and Koratty has tracked down three key members involved in the heists and attempts are now on to arrest the remaining gang members.
Last month, an interstate gang had stolen around Rs 35 lakh from two ATM machines. The police arrested Pappu Palsingh aka Pappy a few days ago. He was already lodged at Tihar Jail after being arrested by the Delhi police in a motorcycle theft case.
This was followed by the arrest of Haneef Khan, 37, and Nazeem Akbar, 24, from Rajasthan and Haryana. The police team, comprising police officers Dinil, Ajith, Anas and Reji, had travelled to New Delhi and are conducting further investigations with the help of the police in Haryana and Rajasthan.
The squad had to brave tough odds with the hostility of local residents while making the arrests. All the accused belong to Haryana and Rajasthan. The accused were identified with the help of CCTV images and tracked to Rajasthan and Haryana with the help of the cyber cell. Police officers said members of the gang were drivers and cleaners of trucks who used to transport new vehicles to Kerala. These persons were involved in similar cases in other states.
Meanwhile, the Kerala Police will approach the Delhi Metropolitan Court to secure the transit warrant of Pappy. The police will also approach the magistrate court in Tripunithura to secure production warrant before approaching the court in New Delhi. The police team is looking to bring Pappy, an accused in more than 15 cases registered across various north Indian states, to Kochi by next week.
The robbery took place on October 12 after the gang cut open the cash chamber of the ATM. The gang members sprayed a liquid on the CCTV cameras, but the police got images of the accused from a camera mounted on the machine.