Hyderabad: A month before allegedly stealing ₹7.4 lakh from an Axis Bank ATM in Shamshabad, a gang brought gas-cutting equipment and spray paint to Hyderabad and concealed them in bushes at Pahadishareef. Police arrested one of the five accused, a 34-year-old truck driver from Rajasthan with 46 criminal cases registered against him in Haryana and Delhi. Four others remain absconding.
He received ₹90,000 and had spent ₹85,500, police said.
The arrested accused, Rashid alias Kakoo, was traced to Gollapally X Roads in Shamshabad using technical evidence and call detail records, police said. During interrogation, Rashid allegedly told police that the stolen money was divided among the gang members on a sleeper bus. Rashid later returned with three others, and the gang allegedly stole a motorcycle and a car to facilitate the operation.
Rashid and an associate, Shamshuddin, had allegedly hidden the equipment nearly a month before the theft.
The Task Force seized ₹4,500 in cash, the car, motorcycle, gas cutter, cylinder and two mobile phones, collectively valued at ₹1.8 lakh. Rashid is also accused in vehicle theft cases in Pahadishareef and Saidabad. Further investigation is underway.