New Delhi: Tired of being taken for a ride by a 40-year-old ATM thief, the Delhi police ditched their official Khaki uniform and clad themselves in Lungi-Kurta to bamboozle the repeat offender under Operation ‘April Fool’.
The accused, Aslam, hoodwinked the police on several occasions in the past by uprooting and robbing ATMs in different areas and when arrested, he would pose as a first-time offender to get an easy bail.
On Monday, a team of Dwarka police clad in traditional Lungi-Kurta stationed themselves at an ATM in Uttam Nagar area. When Aslam came to recce the ATM he mistook the police officials in civil attire as other criminals and began bragging about his various successful attempts in the past, said a senior police officer.
“We struck up a conversation to gain his confidence and then befooled him with our April Fool operation,” DCP Dwarka Anto Alphonse.
“Our team received an information about Aslam that he would come near Uttam Nagar to recce an ATM between 8.30 and 9.30pm. A trap was laid with our teams in lungi-kurta. He tried to speak to our team thinking them to be some other ATM thieves. He even disclosed his name and address to the team. But he was taken by surprise when a head constable from our team shouted ‘April Fool’. He also tried to run away but was caught and later interrogated,” said the DCP.
During the investigation, the police found out that he was actively carrying out ATM thefts by devising a plan with his associates to steal or uproot the ATM. He also said that he is native of Nuh, Mewat but was currently residing in Loni, Ghaziabad, said the police.
“Aslam would come up with a new name every time he was arrested and claimed to be a first time offender to bail himself out easily. He was also declared a proclaimed offender and absconder by the court,” the police added. Aslam has confessed to have committed several crimes and admitted the cases registered against him.
The Operation April fool was carried out after several reports of ATM theft in the area. During the drive, raids were conducted in various parts of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. A list of criminals, previously involved in similar modus-operandi was compiled and verified by police.
In 2012, Aslam along with his associates tried to steal an ATM in Delhi’s Maurya Enclave but the guard fired upon them killing one of his associates. Aslam was arrested and charged also, but he stopped appearing for the hearings in the court in 2017 and was declared an absconder.
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