New Delhi, Mar 2 (PTI) A 33-year-old man was arrested for his involvement in a dozen cases of ATM theft, police said on Tuesday.

Vakeel, a resident of Nuh district in Haryana, was part of a gang that targeted ATMs at isolated spots and most of the cases against them were registered in Delhi, police said.

He was arrested on Sunday near a bus stop at the Nelson Mandela-Vasant Vihar Road crossing, police said, adding that a semi-automatic pistol and four cartridges were seized from him.

Police said they received information that the accused would come at the spot between 5 to 6 am to meet one of his contacts.

"A team was deployed which spotted Vakeel coming from Vasant Kunj on a bike at around 5:40 am. As the police cornered him, he whipped out his pistol and tried to fire but was overpowered," Deputy Commissioner of Police (special cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah said.

During interrogation, Vakeel disclosed that he was wanted in 12 cases, mostly registered in Delhi, of breaking into ATMs and stealing cash, the DCP said.

Members of his gang siphoned off cash amounting to Rs 1.35 crore.

The accused used to spray black paint on CCTV cameras after entering an ATM booth and would open the machine with the help of a gas cutter, Kushwah said.

Police said they had earlier arrested two members of the gang identified as Liyakat and Shamsad.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)