Police arrest one in Bhagalpur ATM loot case

BHAGALPUR: In a major breakthrough, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Tuesday arrested one Md Aalam alias Genua Mian and seized the gas cutter, cylinder and other equipment used in the cash loot from an ATM of State Bank of India (SBI) at Mirjanhat in the town on December 10 last.
Bhagalpur SSP Ashish Bharti said the SIT put under surveillance the cellphone numbers used in and around the ATMs that night.“Aalam has accepted his involvement in the crime. He also disclosed the modus operandi of the gang,” Bharti said.
Police sources said the accused had interstate connections and worked as informer and lined up the criminals in looting ATMs. They said majority of the criminals involved in ATM loot cases belonged to Birbhum district in West Bengal and Sahebganj district in Jharkhand. Aalam worked as local informer for the gang.
The criminals had looted Rs20,60,000 after cutting the ATM vault on December 10 midnight. They had also made an unsuccessful bid to loot an ATM of Bank of India at Habibpur Chowk under the Habibpur police station area the same night.
Before cutting the ATM, the criminals had snapped the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera wire. Police sources said the criminals, however, could not destroy the hard disc of the camera, which helped the SIT in cracking the case.
The SIT is also looking for Aalam’s brother-in-law Md Sattar alias Hassan Chikna, who resides in Birbhum district. Chikna is stated to head a gang expert in ATM loot across the state. The gang members hide in remote West Bengal villages and even cross the Bangladesh border after committing the crime, sources said.