12-cr Mumbai bank heist was an insider’s job; accused arrested: Cops

The accused, who was on the run, had hidden ₹2.5 crore in a dilapidated building in Mumbai, which was found and used by anti-social elements who frequented the building

Two-and-a-half months after the Rs12-crore heist at the ICICI bank in Mumbai’s Dombivli, the Manpada police have arrested the prime accused, Altaf Shaikh (43) and his sister, Nilofer Shaikh, 35, who helped him plan the loot.

The Mumbai police have arrested the prime accused, Altaf Shaikh and his sister, Nilofer Shaikh, who helped him plan the loot. (Representative Image)

Interestingly, Shaikh who was on the run, had hidden ₹2.5 crore in a dilapidated building near Patni grounds in Airoli. Various anti-social elements, including drug abusers, who frequented the building, found the bag full of cash and spent it on luxe goods to enhance their lifestyles.

Their changed way of living caught the eye of Navi Mumbai police. Cops started keeping tabs on them, which finally led them to the money. They subsequently alerted the Thane police, who nabbed Shaikh from Pune.

Shaikh worked at the bank for nine years; among his various responsibilities was managing security arrangements. He gained the trust of the bank officials and simultaneously planned a ₹34-crore heist for almost a year, making use of a loophole he had created in the bank’s security system. However, he and his accomplices could make away with merely ₹12 crore, while the remaining money was found in the bank’s AC duct.

Shaikh chose July 9 to carry out the heist as it was a bank holiday. He deactivated the alarm, removed the hard disks of all cameras and stole ₹34 crore from the vault. He took bundles of ₹2,000 and pushed them into the AC duct through a small hole he had created earlier. The duct led to the back of the building where a garbage box was placed, covered with tarpaulin, from where three of his friends from Mumbra collected ₹5.80 crore in cash the next day. They were later arrested by the Dombivli Manpada police.

Investigating officials have been searching for leads for the past two-and-a-half months to arrest the main accused Shaikh who had absconded. Shaikh is married but estranged from his wife, therefore the police team started keeping an eye on his sister and started questioning her.

“We had been chasing him for many days. He has been travelling to different cities of Maharashtra, like Solapur, by public transport all these months. We were tracing him through technical details. He was in touch with his sister and had kept some cash in her house in Taloja. She was aware of his activities but since she hid details from the police, we nabbed her too. Finally, he was traced in Pune. We have recovered almost ₹8 crore from him,” said a senior police officer.

While on the run, the accused hid in various places, one of them being a dilapidated building in the Patni area of Airoli, where he hid ₹2.5 crore in cash in one bag. After he escaped from there, it was found by some drug addicts.

Rabale police officials, who found the miscreants, said, “Manpada police alerted us about Shaikh hiding cash somewhere in the area. We started searching for under-construction and dilapidated buildings in Airoli. Initially, we didn’t find any cash, but spotted addicts who had recently bought cars, heavy gold jewellery and other expensive items. We tracked them to the building where they found the stash and were using it to fund a good time.”

Additional CP, Crime, A Morale, said that cops are in the process of recovering cash from Shaikh.