Cash van looted of ₹1.5 cr.; driver, guards suspected

CCTV footage near Dharavi crime scene shows two men walking off with cash trunk

Smooth operators: CCTV footage shows two men carrying the cash trunk between them`

In a daring daylight robbery, four men used an old trick to distract the driver of a parked cash transport van and made off with ₹1.5 crore in cash kept in the rear. The incident took place around 2.55 p.m. on Thursday in Dharavi, near the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) building on the Sion-Bandra Link Road.

Police said the van was operated by LogiCash, a local secure transport company that ferries cash to be filled in ATMs, and had stopped to refill a State Bank of India ATM. “The guards had gone inside the ATM centre to refill the machine, and the driver was alone in the van when four men walked up to him. One of them said there was some cash lying near the front of the van. When the driver got out to check, two of the accused went to the rear, opened the door, which was unlocked, and made off with the trunk containing the cash,” an officer at Dharavi police station said. The theft came to light when the guards returned and found the cash trunk missing.

 

The miscreants, however, had apparently not accounted for CCTV cameras in the vicinity. “Footage from a camera mounted over a jewellery store nearby shows the two accused passing by, carrying the trunk between them. We suspect they had a getaway vehicle waiting, and are scanning footage from other cameras in the area for more leads,” he said.

Police investigate at the spot at Dharavi where ATM cash van was looted.

 

DCP (Operations) Ashok Dudhe, who is the designated Mumbai Police spokesperson, added, “The trunk contained around ₹1.50 crore in cash when it was stolen. We have registered a case of theft under the IPC and are conducting further inquiries.”

Inside job suspected

Prima facie, the theft is suspected to be the handiwork of a ‘ tak-tak gang’, which deputes a gang member to tap on the driver’s window of a parked vehicle and convinces him to come out, while his accomplices steal valuables from the vehicle. Within a few hours of the incident, police said, several aspects of the case pointed to insider involvement. They said the van’s driver and the three guards are now being probed.

An officer who is part of the investigation said, “The van is usually parked right outside the ATM to be refilled. However, on Thursday, it was parked across the street from the ATM centre. Also, at least one guard has to stay in the back of the van to protect the money, while the others take the refill amount to the ATM. On Thursday, all three guards went inside the ATM and did not even lock the van’s rear door. The driver, who is not supposed to exit the van, violated this rule by stepping out to check for fallen money.”

The police are preparing sketches of the two accused based on the CCTV footage. The investigating team is also collecting information on repeat offenders with a history of similar crimes, and checking on their movements over the last few days.