Rajkot, Oct 11 — The Rajkot City Crime Branch has arrested three men from Uttar Pradesh for allegedly stealing cash from ATMs by fitting aluminium strips inside cash dispenser boxes, trapping money during withdrawals and collecting it after customers left, police said on Sunday.
The accused were identified as Afsarahmad Riyazat Ali, 23, Arbaz Faiyaz Ahmad, 27, and Sahidkhan Mohammad Salim, 26, all residents of Pratapgarh district in Uttar Pradesh.
They were apprehended from a lane behind Kanta Vikas Gruh in the Pujara Plot area of Rajkot in Gujarat before they could allegedly tamper with another ATM, according to the police.
The Crime Branch seized Rs 1,12,200 in cash, three mobile phones valued at Rs 33,000, a car worth Rs 3 lakh, four aluminium strips, a fibre ring blender file and a Bank of Baroda ATM card. The total value of the seized property was estimated at Rs 4,45,200.
According to the police, the accused targeted ATMs of the State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda, particularly on bank holidays or when banks were closed.
They allegedly conducted reconnaissance before fitting an aluminium strip inside the cash dispenser box and leaving the premises.
When a customer attempted to withdraw money, the transaction would be completed, but the cash would remain trapped inside the dispenser.
"After the customer left, believing the withdrawal had failed, the accused would return, remove the strip and take the trapped cash," police said.
The arrests followed an investigation involving CCTV footage and technical and human intelligence. Police personnel received information about the suspects and intercepted them before they could allegedly carry out another theft.
The Crime Branch said the arrests had helped detect three cases: one registered at Bhaktinagar police station and another at Malaviyanagar police station in Rajkot, and a third at A Division police station in Mehsana.
According to officials, the accused also admitted to allegedly targeting ATMs in several locations in Gujarat and Mumbai.
The reported incidents included withdrawals from ATMs in Surat's Sachin GIDC, the zoo area, Un and Adajan Patiya; Ahmedabad's Narol and Sarkhej areas; Chhatral and the Ring Road bypass; an ATM near Mehsana railway station; an SBI ATM near Trikon Baug in Rajkot; and eastern Mumbai.
The amounts they reportedly admitted to taking varied from Rs 7,000 in one incident in Surat to between Rs 90,000 and Rs 1 lakh across several locations in Ahmedabad and the surrounding areas in another.
Police also cited alleged withdrawals of Rs 70,000 to Rs 80,000 from two ATMs in Surat's Adajan Patiya area and Rs 20,000 near Trikon Baug in Rajkot.
Officials cited previous criminal cases against all three men in Uttar Pradesh.
The cases include allegations of theft, robbery, receiving stolen property and other offences under the Indian Penal Code, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act.