Thieves walk away with `19 lakh meant for ATM

Two audacious thieves managed to flee with Rs 19 lakh from a security van while an ATM was being refilled at Lady Jamshedji Road in Mahim, on Wednesday.

Two audacious thieves managed to flee with Rs 19 lakh from a security van while an ATM was being refilled at Lady Jamshedji Road in Mahim, on Wednesday.

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They managed to take a metal trunk containing the cash from the Maruti Omni van even as a gun-toting security guard of Securitrans India Pvt Ltd, the driver of the van, and another security guard of the Bank of Maharashtra, were in the vicinity.

The ATM belongs to Bank of Maharashtra and is located on LJ Road. According to the Mahim police, the incident took place around 11.30 am as the Maruti Omni reached the ATM opposite Paramount Hotel to deposit cash. According to police inspector Vinay Kulkarni, “When the van arrived outside the ATM, it had Rs 46 lakh to be installed at ATMs of various banks across the city.” The driver, Akhilesh Yadav, along with security guard, Mushtaq Ahmed, were standing near the van while their colleagues Surendra Jadhav and Pintu Yadav – all in their early twenties – went inside the ATM with Rs 6 lakh, police said.

DCP Aswati Dorge (Zone V) said, “Ahmed was then approached by two persons who asked him for directions to various places and tried to distract him. As Ahmed was telling the duo that he too was new to the city, one of them walked away.” An officer from Mahim police station said, “We suspect that one person distracted him by speaking to him, the other person took the trunk.” The driver, Yadav, who was standing near the van, claimed he was unaware of what was happening.

When the unknown person left, Ahmed turned around only to find the door of the van open and the trunk missing. The Mahim police say they have found a woman witness who saw two men walking southwards with the trunk. When HT contacted the Securitrans India Pvt Ltd office in Jogeshwari, a person who refused to be identified, said, “We instruct our security guards to be vigilant all the time. It is unfortunate that such an incident took place.”