A 45 year-old man who had gone to do a recce to loot an ATM in Delhi’s Uttam Nagar area was arrested by Delhi police on ‘April Fool’s Day’ after accused mistook identity of police personnel as gang members and disclosed his name and identity to them.
The proclaimed offender has been identified as Aslam, who hails from Karanda in Mewat and was presently residing in Loni in Ghaziabad. According to Anto Alphonse, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Dwarka district, Aslam was arrested on April 1 from Uttam Nagar area where he had gone at about 9.00 pm to recce an ATM.
“He mistook police officials, dressed in lungi-kurta (Mewati attire), as members of a new gang and spoke to them, disclosing his name and address. After cross-checking Aslam’s identity, the policemen handcuffed him, saying “April Fool Banaya” (made you an April Fool),” said the DCP.
“In 2012, Aslam along with associates tried to loot an ATM in Mourya Enclave in Delhi, but the guard fired at them, killing one of his associates. Aslam was later arrested. Aslam stopped attending court in 2017, following which he was declared a proclaimed offender,” said the DCP.
“Aslam used to make a list of ATMs after conducting a recce and then prepared plans with his associates to loot them. Several cases had been registered against Aslam, under different names. He used to give different names whenever he was caught to escape with a light punishment, claiming it was his first offence,” the DCP added.