ATM heist: Mastermind ex-employee held

The 6 accused in police custody. (Photo: Deepak Kurkunde) In the hope to get rich, two friends took a quick route and stole `9 crore from their own office in Thane three days ago. The two youngsters were arrested along with four others who helped them in the robbery. According to officials, the duo had been planning the robbery for the past two months and this was their third attempt to rob their employer.

While only six have been arrested, officials say that nearly 15-16 people were involved and more arrests are likely. The masterminds of the robbery have been identified as Akash Rajesh Kadam and Amol Karle.

On Wednesday, armed robbers barged into the Thane office of Checkmate Cash Management Company and after threatening the employees and gunpoint, escaped with `9.16 crore. They even stole the Digital Video Recorders, which stored the CCTV footage.

Thane Crime branch officials solved the case within 48 hours and recovered `3 crore 12 lakh 17,000 from the accused. According to police officials, Kadam was an ex-employee of Checkmate Cash Management Company who had quit six months ago after an argument with his seniors about changing his working shifts. But before he left the job, he managed to get his friend Amol Karle a job in the company.

On Friday, Thane police commissioner Parambir Singh said, “There are two more accused who are wanted in this case as well as other murder cases. From the accused Rajesh and Amol we have seized guns, knives, the cars they had used for the robbery as well as a drawn out plan.”

“On the day of robbery Amol was in the office and informed the group about the CCTV footages. Among the 15-16 group members, nine entered the premise while others waited outside the office. Later, they carried money in the three drums and carry bags. Subsequently, they left in three different cars,” said the official.

While interrogating employees in the company, they found Amol’s behaviour suspicious as well.

On a tip off, they raided a place near Nashik where the four accused were distributing money. The police detained them and brought them to Thane and arrested Rajesh.

These accused confessed to the crime. The arrested accused’s names are Suresh Wagh (28), Harishchandra Mate (30), Nitesh Awhad (22), Amol Karle (26), Akash Chavhan and Mayur Kadam (21). Nitesh and Mayur were drivers of the two cars.