Tattoo on wrist helps crack bank burglary

THE ACCUSED TOLD THE POLICE THEY WERE INSPIRED BY CRIME THRILLERS

A tattoo on a thief’s wrist helped the police identify and arrest three men who had broken into a bank in north Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar on Tuesday morning and made away with ₹2.3 lakh, all in coins.

The three arrested men— cleaners and store keepers at DTC depots — told police they were being inspired by a series of crime thrillers and heist films.

The burglary happened at a Syndicate Bank branch near the DTC bus depot in Banda Bahadur Marg in Mukherjee Nagar.

When a bank employee reached the branch in the morning, he found that the iron rod of a window had been cut. A search revealed that ₹2.3 lakh–all ₹10 and ₹5 coins–had been stolen.

The connecting wires of the CCTV cameras had been cut. But the cameras had captured two of the suspects who had masked themselves using a handkerchief.

“One of the suspects had an ‘R’ tattoo on his left wrist. With only that clue, we began our probe,” said Milind Dumbere, DCP (north-west).

Police began by focusing on the DTC bus depot. “Since the entry into the bank was from the premises of the bus depot, we decided to begin by questioning the maintenance staff,” said the DCP.

But the police’s focus was on the left wrist of those questioned. Success followed as the police came across Rahul, a 21-year-old bus cleaner with a similar tattoo on his wrist.

Rahul allegedly confessed on interrogation. His two associates, another youth named Rahul, and Anuj, were arrested.

Police said all three were employed by private companies for maintenance work at DTC depots.

The theft was the brainchild of the man with the tatoo. He allegedly visited the bank’s branch to understand the arrangements.

The police recovered Rs 2.2 lakh found packed in 46 polythene bags.