Thrissur: Striking similarities in the ATM robberies in Kerala's Thrissur district on Friday and one reported from Kalliassery under Kannapuram police station limits in Kannur in 2021 prompted Kerala police to look for a container truck which proved crucial in busting the gang within hours after the heist.

It was the notorious Mewat gang from Haryana which was found to be behind the Kannur ATM robbery in 2021. They had broken open three ATMs within a distance of three kilometres in Kannur. After a probe that spanned two weeks, Kerala police arrested the gang members from Delhi with the help of Delhi police.

Incumbent Thrissur district police chief R Elanko was then the city police commissioner of Kannur. "Like in Kannur robbery, here also they used gas cutters. Mewat gang operated using container trucks. In this case, we had a hunch that it could be the same gang from Mewat. In the initial hour of investigation, we focused on a car moving towards Palakkad. Then we passed an alert to Tamil Nadu police that it could be a car or a container," said Elanko.

After the alert was passed to all rural police stations, Kerala police suspected that they could go via Krishnagiri, Erode, Selam or Namakkal. This information was shared with the Tamil Nadu police. TN police then intercepted a container truck after a chase at Namakkal and the accused were taken into custody.

In the case of Kannur robbery, the gang members had managed to cross the border using the truck, travelled via Karnataka and reached Delhi. A four-member police team was in pursuit of the gang and eventually arrested them from Delhi and the stolen money was recovered. In Thrissur, the gang targeted three ATMs run by the State Bank of India while in Kannur ATMs of three different banks were robbed.

Elanko said that a police team from Thrissur has left for Namakkal to take the accused into custody. Mewat-based ATM robbery gang is notorious for armed thefts and break-ins using gas cutters and container trucks. In 2023, a five-member gang from Mewat wanted in ATM thefts was arrested in Delhi and cops had seized pistols with live cartridges.

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