'Conspiracy to loot money for ATM was hatched in advance'

Five persons were arrested on Monday in connection with the sensational Rs 5.50 crore heist from an ATM van at D block Defence Colony market.

According to sources the van carrying money for the ATM normally carries Rs 16 crore, but this one fortunately carried a lesser amount.

According to Rajan Bhagat of the Delhi police the conspiracy was hatched two weeks back. "The culprits became friends when they were at the high-security Tihar jail. They also closely monitored the movement of the van," said Bhagat.

Neeraj Kumar, Delhi police commissioner, was shocked to learn that criminals had looted Rs 5.50 crore from an ATM from the Defence Colony market. He dispatched Vivek Gogia, joint commissioner of South West district, to the spot to investigate the matter.

The driver of the van Ompal Singh got away with Rs 51 lakh after drugging his colleagues and the guards. 

Special investigation teams were constituted to nab the culprits.

According to the statement of a witness, seven well-built men carried a huge trunk to the first floor of the house of one of the suspects, Deepak alias Biloo. The police swung into action well after mid-night and arrested Deepak, his wife and child from their residence in Nasirpur in Palam village.

"More arrests have been made on Monday and this includes two persons who kept the stolen money. We have recovered over 4 crore and we hope to recover the entire amount once other culprits are arrested," Bhagat said.

Interestingly, the main culprit Ompal Singh has left his residence a week before the looting. He also had not told anyone about his change of residence.

"This makes it evident that he had been planning the loot for sometime. Since he was the driver of the van, he had a fairly good idea how to execute the plan," said a senior police officer investigating the crime.

In another incident, effort by an alert citizen led to the arrest of four youngsters who were trying to break open an ATM at Behlana. The four have been identified as Megha, Mallika, Rajwant Singh and Amita. Rajwant and Amita are married and were caught while trying to break open an unguarded AXIS Bank ATM with a petrol spray and lighter. All the girls are from Yamunanagar while the boy is a native of Amritsar. 

A motley crew of the Delhi Police, armed with nothing but CDs containing footage of an unsuccessful robbery, managed to hunt down a 23-year-old who was caught trying to break into an ATM in New Delhi.