THRISSUR : The collective effort of Kerala and Tamil Nadu police led to the arrest of seven accused in the ATM robbery held in Thrissur within five hours of the incident.
City police commissioner R Ilango told TNIE that reports about the 2017 ATM robbery in Alappuzha and the 2021 robbery in Kannur gave hints about the gang behind the crime. “We all worked together to trace every clue to find those behind it,” he added.
Ilango said identifying the Mewat gang as the suspects in the case helped in assuming their strategy to escape from the state. From the earlier reports, it was clear that after robbery, they didn’t drive the car used for the crime to reach their destination, instead they would use a carrier truck for transportation.
“This became crucial as we could pass on the information to all, including the TN police, to look for the truck. The ATM theft in Krishnagiri recently also strengthened our suspicions about the Mewat gang,” he added.
Mewat (present-day Nuh district) in Haryana is infamous for looting and has been lately associated with cyber scams. The men in Mewat mainly take up jobs as truck drivers, but sometimes resort to robbery and other crimes for a living. The latest generation of people in Nuh has been engaged in cyber fraud, including sextortion.
According to Ilango, these gangs usually come to different states to deliver goods in trucks. During their return journey, they plan thefts and escape with the stolen money to their native place. “It is suspected that the car was brought from Haryana in the truck halfway and was later driven. The fake number plate was then fixed on the car for the robbery,” shared the officer.
He also said the gang members have reportedly been trained to cut the ATMs precisely to save time. “Any other information regarding their modus operandi can only be obtained after a detailed interrogation,” he added.
The arrested people could only be handed over to the Kerala police after judicial procedures as one of the gang members was killed in the encounter. The Mewat gang is mainly spread over Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh in about 100 km.
It is suspected that the same gang was behind the ATM theft at Krishnagiri on September 21 and the robbery in 3 ATMs at Kadappa in Andhra Pradesh on September 22.