NAVI MUMBAI: The NRI Coastal Police on Friday arrested the van driver of Securitrans India Pvt Ltd, who had decamped with Rs 82.50 lakh in cash, while the agency staff had gone to an ATM kiosk in Ulwe to deposit cash at around 8.20 pm on Wednesday. The police could recover only Rs 41,800 from the accused.
Ravindra Patil, senior inspector of NRI coastal police station in Belapur, said, “The accused van driver, Sandeep Dalvi (35), a resident of Koparkhairane, was apprehended from near Panvel railway station on Friday morning. The Vashi JMFC court has remanded him to police custody till April 20. Out of the Rs 82.50 lakh stolen by Dalvi, we have recovered only Rs 41,800 cash from his possession. Dalvi has claimed that he has given the remaining cash to two of his friends. The police are looking for them.”
On Wednesday afternoon, the security agency’s manager Shreeshail Mashaal, vault officer Nanadkumar Pujari and security guard Mahesh Bhaskar along with Dalvi were assigned the task of depositing Rs 2.29 crore cash in ATMs of different banks in Uran taluka.
Patil said that at around 8.20 pm, the cash van reached the ATM of Bank of India, opposite Bamandongri railway station in Ulwe.. The van was parked about 50 metres away from the ATM kiosk and Dalvi did not leave the van while Mashaal and Pujari went inside the kiosk to deposit the cash. The agency's security guard Bhaskar was waiting outside the kiosk.
Taking advantage of being alone in the van, Dalvi sped away with the cash. The van was found abandoned near Parsik Hill in CBD-Belapur at around 9.30 pm.
