Three arrested in Dharavi ATM cash van loot

Mumbai: Three persons have been arrested from Satara district in western Maharashtra in connection with the Rs 1.5 crore ATM cash van loot in Dharavi here, police said today.

The trio--Sureshkumar Pandurangam, Arumugam Subramanyam Sherve and Kamala Nagraj Devendra-- who were trying to flee, was nabbed from a private travels bus last night after Dharavi police, on a tip off, intensified searches near Aanewadi Toll Plaza under Bhuinj Police Station jurisdiction in Satara with the help of local crime branch.

Also, Rs 15.42 lakh cash was recovered from their baggage, police said. Subsequent interrogation of the trio over the source of cash revealed their involvement in the Dharavi loot. The accused have also given the names of nine other accomplices who were involved in the crime, a police official said.

While arrested accused Pandurangam and Sherve hail from Tiruchirapalli in Tamilnadu, Devendra is a resident of Antop Hill in Mumbai, the official said adding that further investigation in the case to trace the remaining culprits as well as the looted money is underway.

On March 16, a group of unidentified men had looted Rs 1.5 crore from an ATM cash-van of State Bank of India. The incident had occurred near the ONGC building on Sion-Bandra Link Road when the van had stopped in front of an ATM for refilling cash. The robbers had then decamped with the amount in the cash box.