The accused in the Rs. 9-crore heist at a cash management company in Thane were nabbed by the crime branch just two hours before they could flee the State. Police said the accused were distributing the proceeds of the crime among themselves when they were caught in Nashik.
Checkmate Cash Management was robbed of Rs. 9.16 crore by a gang of armed robbers early on Tuesday. On Thursday night, Thane police arrested six accused including a former and a serving employee of the company, and are now searching for more suspects.
The stolen cash was packed in three tin barrels. The accused fled in three SUVs which split up in different directions.
Five of them, carrying one barrel, fled to Satpur in Nashik and stopped at a field belonging to an accused for the night.
Meanwhile, in Thane, police started making inquiries with the firm’s employees. One of them, Amol Karle, 26, was evasive and nervous. The police had suspected an insider’s hand as the robbers knew the location of the CCTV console and disabled it by removing its Digital Video Recorder. DCP (Crime) Parag Manere, Thane police, said, “The robbers had held Karle at gunpoint. After questioning, we established his involvement, after which we identified the other accused.”
Based on Karle’s interrogation, two police teams went to Satpur and found five accused distributing the money among themselves on Wednesday. The accused, Nitesh Avhad (22), Mayur Kadam (21), Harishchandra Mate (30), Umesh Wagh (28), and Akash Chavan (29), were brought to Thane and arrested the same night.
A Thane Crime Branch officer said, “Chavan quit Checkmate some months ago after a disagreement with the management. He got in touch with Wagh, an old friend, and told him about large amounts of cash handled at the firm every day. Wagh, a history sheeter, roped in the other accused and hatched the plan.”
Chavan then involved Karle, whom he had referred for a job at Checkmate. Karle provided the gang with information about the firm’s CCTV console and security arrangements, and also told them that cash amounts were highest on Monday nights. The gang planned the heist for Monday night.
Besides the seven accused who executed the robbery, three acted as lookouts, three drove the getaway vehicles and several more were involved in reconnaissance.
State DGP Pravin Dixit said, “The firm should have kept the local police in the loop about the fact that they were handling large amounts of cash on a daily basis. They should have informed us about the identities of their current and former employees. We are in touch with the Reserve Bank of India to work out guidelines that can be laid down in this regard.”
