Bolangir: Police Friday arrested Sunil Kumar Sahu, mastermind of the gang that was involved in the loot of Rs 80.29 lakh from eight ATMs in this district. Sahu was underground in Kolkata along with his wife, police said.
Acting on a tip-off, a police team conducted a raid at Sunil’s rented house in Kolkata and arrested him. Police also seized 10 SIM cards and Rs 26.46 lakh from his possession. Sunil originally hailed from Jharanipali village under Loisingha police limits in Bolangir district.
Later, he was produced in Alipur ACJM court in West Bengal. Later, Bolangir police took him for a three-day transit remand. Bolangir SP Asish Kumar Singh shared the incident with the media.
According to SP, two employees of CMS, Sunil Kumar Sahu and Tikeswar Pradhan had taken the charge of depositing Rs 1.28 crore in ATMs of State Bank of India, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank respectively. Accordingly, the two deposited the amount in all ATMs November 5. However, Rs 80.29 lakh was found missing November 8.
Suspecting foul play, company manager Goutam Nag lodged a written complaint in this connection. Upon investigation, it was learnt that Sunil was the mastermind of the loot. Sunil absconded soon after the incident.
Police conducted a raid and arrested Tikeswar and Sunil’s brother-in-law Umesh Kumar Padhan. After tracking their mobile phones, police arrested Sunil and his wife from Anandapur in Kolkata. Sunil had managed to exchange `500 and `1000 notes with the help of a broker in Kolkata.
An investigation to find the remaining Rs 53.79 lakh was launched, SP said, adding stringent actions will be taken against those involved with Sunil. His wife is now under police interrogation, it was learnt. PNN
