Defence Colony heist: 2 more held, Rs 2.6 lakh recovered

NEW DELHI: The man who passed on details of cash movement to the gang that hijacked a cash van on Friday has been arrested. TOI had reported on Monday that Umesh, the inside hand in the robbery, was already in the police net.
Confirming that Umesh and another gang member had been arrested, joint commissioner of police, southwestern range, Vivek Gogia said Umesh (39) and Mukesh Saini (31) were neighbours in the New Friends Colony area and roughly Rs 2.6 l akh had been recovered from them.
Mukesh had reportedly met the main accused, Hari Kishan Sharma, in Tihar Jail, where they planned to commit a massive bank robbery in the city. Umesh is an ex-employee of a vault managing company associated with the bank in Hauz Khas, from where the money was being transferred to the Lajpat Nagar office of Premier Shield security company in an Eeco van.
Gogia said the two suspects were present at the bank on Friday and had followed the cash van on Mukesh’s Bajaj Discover bike after it left the vault office. They were constantly in touch with Hari Kishan Sharma about its movements. The two had already recced the van’s route and time of movement. They chose the van that carried a cash chest with more cash and less security.
Mukesh was in jail for two-and-a-half years in a cheating case registered in the Kalyanpuri area and met Hari Kishan Sharma while he was lodged there. The two hatched a plan for which Mukesh had to find someone familiar with cash van movements. He met Umesh, who operated the cash counting machine in the company. It was Umesh’s job to count the bundles of notes and stash them in chests for transfer to various ATMs. Mukesh lured Umesh to share information in return for a generous share.
Additional DCP south P S Kushwah said that the accused started visiting the bank and watching the movement of staff and vehicles. Whenever the guards questioned them, Umesh flash his old I-card to prove his bona fides.
Providing details of their arrest, DCP south Chhaya Sharma said that once the main accused was identified, intelligence was gathered about contacts who could have leaked information about cash movement.
“Deepak Sharma revealed during interrogation that Mukesh had been informing them about cash van movements. Bank employees and risk management companies were scrutinized and interrogated in this regard,” she said.
The call record and cell phone location revealed Mukesh’s identity. It was found that he was in touch with a man, Umesh. When his antecedents were verified, he turned out to be an ex-employee of the cash management company.
Mukesh was arrested from Mandawali in East Delhi and Rs 1.35 lakh was recovered. Umesh was arrested from Taimoor Nagar area while he was trying to flee. He led police to recover another Rs 1.3 lakh. The bike and Umesh’s I-card have been recovered.
Teams have also been dispatched to other locations where the absconding criminals are likely to have taken shelter.