₹81.42L out of ₹82.50L cash meant for ATM machines across Navi Mumbai that van driver fled with recovered

Out of the ₹82.50 lakh cash meant for depositing in the ATM machines across Navi Mumbai and that was stolen by the van driver, NRI Coastal police have seized ₹81.42 lakh; the rest of the amount was spent by the accused, Sandeep Dalvi (36), within 24 hours of the theft

Out of the ₹82.50 lakh meant for depositing in the ATM machines that was stolen by the van driver, NRI Coastal police have seized ₹81.42 lakh. The rest of the amount was spent by the accused, Sandeep Dalvi (36), within 24 hours of the theft.

Navi Mumbai Commissioner of Police, Bipin Kumar Singh (front, middle) with the recovered cash in CBD Belapur on Monday after the van driver, who fled with ₹82.50 lakh cash meant for ATM machines, was arrested. (BACHCHAN KUMAR/HT PHOTO)

The incident occurred on Wednesday night when the substitute driver, Dalvi, fled with the van from Ulwe while two vault officers and a security guard were depositing the cash in an ATM machine. He then abandoned the van near Apollo Hospital and fled with the box of cash.

“The van had started with ₹2.29Cr and they went on depositing the money at various ATM machines. If the accused fled in the beginning itself, the money stolen would have been much more. Within 24 hours of the theft, the team of NRI Coastal Police nabbed him even though we had no CCTV footage and no location to track as he did not carry any mobile phone,” Navi Mumbai Commissioner of Police, Bipin Kumar Singh, said.

“During the course of investigation, he revealed that after abandoning the van, he hired an auto rickshaw to Koparkhairane to his friend’s house. He handed over the box to his friend and asked him to keep it. He told the friend that the box contained some household items and that he would take it back from him later. He had taken some money with him and he splurged on alcohol,” senior police inspector, Ravindra Patil, said.

Except for the money that the accused spent, police have been able to recover the remaining money. “The agency that was in-charge of the money will now have to approach the court and get the money back by following the due procedure,” Patil said.