Mumbai Crime: Citizen helps stop thieves who planned to drag out ATM in Malad; 5 held

The police team with the thieves they held

An alert citizen foiled the theft of an ATM at Kurar village in Malad East by a group of thieves in the wee hours of Thursday.

The resident happened to see the group near the ATM booth and suspecting a theft, called the police control room. The police said they planned to tie the machine to their bikes and drag it out.

The arrested accused were identified as Subodh Salvi, 26, Saurabh Paste, 23, Siddhesh Ingle, 20, Sameer Khan, 22, and Sameer Parte, 27, all residents of Vakola. They have dozens of criminal cases of robberies against them. Four more accused are absconding. The police recovered two knives, two tools to open the machine, a rope, a screw driver and three bikes from them.

According to a police officer, the incident occurred at 3.30 am at Pimpari Pada. The nine accused came on four bikes and parked them in front of the ATM booth. All the accused had covered their faces. Two of them stood outside while the others entered the booth. The police said the two outside carried chilly powder and knives. The accused tied a rope to their bikes and they were trying to tie its other end to the ATM when the police arrived.

Under the supervision of Senior Inspector Prakash Bele, Detection Officer PSI D Satardekar and his staff had rushed to the spot within few minutes. However, four of the accused managed to escape and police managed to arrest the five after chasing them.

"We have recovered knives and tools. We booked and arrested the accused under Sections 399 (dacoity), 402 (assembling to commit dacoity) of IPC and various sections of the Arms Act read with 4, 25 and section 37 (1) of Maharashtra Police Act," said Senior Inspector Bele from Kurar police station.