2 men, including an army man, arrested for stealing ₹1.29 lakh from ATM

On Tuesday morning, the police received information that at least two men had stolen ₹1.29 lakh from an ATM on Sohna road.

The police on Thursday arrested two men, including an army man, for allegedly stealing ₹1.29 lakh after cutting open an ATM in Badshahpur on Monday. The police said the army man was under a debt of ₹30 lakh and decided to loot from an ATM to recoup a part of the losses and pay some of his debtors. He enrolled a friend and both learnt hacks on stealing from a video streaming website.

The police said the suspects, identified as Praveen, 29, and Rahul, 24, both the natives of Hodal, Palwal, were arrested from Hodal on Thursday. (HT Archives. Representative image)

On Tuesday morning, the police received information that at least two men had stolen ₹1.29 lakh from an ATM on Sohna road. Preliminary probe had found that the suspects had sprayed a chemical on the CCTV around 10pm on Monday and used an electronic cutter to steal cash from the ATM.

The police said the suspects, identified as Praveen, 29, and Rahul, 24, both the natives of Hodal, Palwal, were arrested from Hodal on Thursday.

Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (ACP), crime, said, “Praveen, an army man, was posted as a sepoy in Jammu and had returned to his residence in Hodal in March for a break. After the lockdown was imposed, he could not return to Jammu and had been staying at his house.

A police official, privy to the investigation, requesting anonymity, said, “Praveen had a debt of ₹30 lakh. He had borrowed money from several people for personal reasons and had lost several lakhs through investments in the share market. So, he planned to recoup his losses by stealing money from an ATM. He roped in his friend, Rahul, who earlier used to work at a factory and knew how to use an electronic cutter.”

The police said the suspects had learnt how to steal money from ATMs by watching videos on YouTube. “During questioning, they confessed that they had seen videos on how to use a cutter to cut open an ATM and some hacks on thefts. They chose an ATM, which was unmanned, and outside the ATM, a JCB had been operational for some construction activity. The suspects said that the JCB would filter any noise during the break-in,” said the police official quoted above.

The police said the suspects had parked their motorcycle 700 metres from the ATM, which the police were able to trace by going through the footage of 25 CCTVs in the area. The suspects were produced in a district court on Friday and sent to police custody for two days.