In what could be the first concrete lead on the recent ATM heists in and around the city, police have managed to get sketches of some of the suspects.
An investigating team took the help of a waiter at a dhaba on Anekal Road, who claimed to have encountered one of the members of the gang which is suspected to have made away with an ATM belonging to the Bank Of Maharashtra, Chandapura Branch, which had Rs 10.35 lakh, on Wednesday.
Speaking to Express, an investigation officer said the gang halted at the dhaba to get food parcels.
“We started enquiring with the locals. We explained to them about the ATM thefts involving a gang that used a sports utility vehicle (SUV). Then, a waiter at the dhaba told us that a group had ordered for food parcels as they waited in a Tata Sumo around 11.30pm on Wednesday,” the officer said.
On further questioning, the waiter told them that he noticed one of the suspects wearing a bracelet on the right hand when he held out his hand to pay the bill. “We cross-checked the CCTV footage and established the bracelet link, which matches the one seen on the hands of one of the suspects in the footage,” police said.
A physical description of the suspect by the waiter aided the police in coming up with a facial sketch with the help of a professional artist. The sketch has been circulated to the investigating teams.
Another senior police officer investigating the Bagalur ATM theft reported on June 17 at the Dwaraka Nagar branch of State Bank of India, said more sketches have been derived based on the CCTV footage.
“Our artists have managed to come up with possible facial structure based on the eyes of the suspects as seen in the footage. We have sent a couple of teams to neighbouring states hoping that these sketches may provide further leads,” he said, adding that more than 300 people had been questioned so far, but without any breakthrough.
Police have also accessed the CCTV footage captured from a nearby jewellery shop on Anekal Road, which clearly shows the SUV’s movement towards Hosur Road after the theft.
“The vehicle looks to be the same one used in the Bagalur case. However, more than 900 phone call records collected on the day of the theft from nearby mobile towers have not given us any leads,” the officer said.