Kochi: The brain behind two ATM robberies in Kerala has been arrested in Haryana's Mewat district.
The police claimed Haneef Khan plotted the break-in at ATMs that were reported in October. The robberies had netted the gang Rs 25 lakh from a State Bank of India ATM at Irumpanam near Kochi and another Rs 10 lakh from a South Indian Bank facility at Koratty in Thrissur district in the wee hours of October 12.
Pappi Singh and Naseem Khan, co-accused in the case, were arrested earlier. Singh, 32, who hails from Rajasthan, is locked up in Tihar jail on charges of bike-lifting. He was spotted on CCTV visuals at the ATMs and the Rajasthan police identified him with these images. He is also accused in some ATM robberies in Maharashtra.
The robbers had broken into the ATM kiosks and used gas cutters to break into the machines. The CCTV cameras were spray-painted to prevent recording, but some visuals were indeed registered. The gang had travelled in a pick-up van stolen from Kottayam.
The vehicle was abandoned after the robbery and forensic investigators found in it blood samples of one of the robbers apart from three fingerprints and strands of hair.
