The police on Friday arrested three drug addicts from Mahim for allegedly assaulting the watchman of an automated transaction machine (ATM) centre and trying to rob it.
According to the Mahim police, the rope used to bind the watchman’s hands and legs pointed the investigating team in the right direction.
“The rope has several spots of red paint on it and when we fanned out around the ATM centre, we came across a residential building which had been freshly painted. Several lengths of rope with similar spots of paint on them were lying outside the building, along with other equipment used while repainting buildings. We then focused on the area,” said an officer with the Mahim police.
Shortly thereafter, an informant tipped the police off, saying that three young men from the same locality, who were known to be good friends and were mostly seen together, had suddenly shaved off their beards and cropped their hair short. In suspicion, the police picked up the trio and while being questioned they broke down and confesses to have committed the crime.
“The trio had been under the influence of drugs at the time. After we publicised the CCTV footage of the attempted robbery, the trio decided to get haircuts and shaves to avoid being recognised,” the officer added. The arrested accused have been identified as Ashraf Syed (23), Jafar Ansari (10) and Asif sheikh (18). A week ago, the trio had barged into the Andhra Bank ATM centre in Mahim, but had to leave empty-handed.