3 nabbed for cash van theft, Rs 45 lakh recovered
New Delhi: The Delhi Metro Police have achieved a significant breakthrough in the case of theft of Rs 51.50 lakh from a cash disbursing van at the Inderlok Metro station area with the arrest of three suspects.
Stolen cash amounting to Rs 45.86 lakh has been recovered during the ongoing investigation, officials informed on Friday.
The arrested accused have been identified as Satish Kumar (34), a resident of west Delhi’s Uttam Nagar, and Chetan Sharma (23) and Pritam Sharma, alias Munna (25), both residents of Haryana’s Bahadurgarh.
Dr G Ramgopal Naik, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Delhi Metro, said that the incident occurred on Tuesday when the police received a PCR call about the cash theft.
Devender Kumar, Manager of Regional Operations at Securitrans India Pvt Ltd, reported that their company was responsible for disbursing cash to various ATMs in Delhi.
According to his statement, the cash custodian, along with the driver, had gone to deposit the cash at a PNB ATM in Inderlok.
Upon returning to the cash van, he discovered that the driver had fled on a motorcycle along with another individual. Subsequently, it was revealed that Rs 51,50,000 had gone missing from the van.
A specialised team, led by ACP Kailash Chander, was formed to track down the culprits. With assistance of technical surveillance, the team conducted raids in various locations across Delhi and the NCR. As a result of their efforts, three suspects were arrested.
During the raids, the team recovered Rs 35,48,500 from Satish Kumar’s furniture factory in Hastsal and an additional Rs 10,38,000 at Chetan Sharma’s residence.
The investigation has pointed to Satish Kumar as the mastermind behind the conspiracy.
It was revealed that he, along with Ankit, Nitin, Chetan, and Pritam Sharma, planned and executed the theft, Naik confirmed.
The police have also learned that the car used to transport the stolen money belongs to Pritam Sharma, and Rs 2,800 of the stolen cash was seized from him.
However, at this stage, the remaining suspects, Ankit Singh (driver) and Nitin (motorcycle rider), are still at large.
The police are actively searching for them as the investigation continues, Naik added.
