UP:Hari Kishan, wife spent night in car after looting bank cash van in Defence Colony

The man who planned and executed the armed robbery of a bank cash van in Defence Colony on September 28 had spent the night, along with his wife, in a Maruti Zen car after the heist.

Hari Kishan and his wife Rashmi Sharma were arrested from Banda, UP, on Wednesday.

Police said Kishan had shot the security guard of the cash van, which was transferring money for ICICI Bank, when the vehicle was on the service lane leading to a petrol pump in Defence Colony.

Revising the earlier sequence of events, police said Kishan and his aides reached the spot in two cars — a Hyundai Verna, which has been recovered, and a Maruti Zen.

Once the men had taken possession of the cash van, they abandoned the Verna and fled in the van and the Zen, police said.

The van was later abandoned in Hauz Rani and all the accused assembled in Kishan’s home in Khirki Extension, police said. Here, they split the money, with Kishan keeping the major part of the loot. Co-accused Deepak Sharma, who has been arrested, was handed Rs 1.5 crore and instructed to keep it safe in his Sector-V Pushp Vihar home.

Kishan left his home after an hour and headed to Taimur Nagar and met Mukesh — who along with Umesh had tracked the van’s movements ahead of the heist, police said. Mukesh was given his and Umesh’s share of money.

Mukesh and Umesh have also been arrested.

After meeting Mukesh, police said, Kishan went to Nizamuddin and met one Jojo alias Vijay Verma, who later helped him to flee to Banda.

As night fell, Kishan received his wife and drove to Pushp Vihar, where the two spent the night in the Zen, police said.

According to police, next day the couple hailed an auto-rickshaw and went to Vikaspuri, from where they bought a used Honda City for Rs 3.5 lakh. They used this vehicle to flee to Banda, via Agra. In Banda, the couple stayed at Jojo’s house.

Kishan had destroyed his mobile phone after the heist and bought a new one from Saket. He used the new phone to contact Mukesh, police said. After Mukesh’s arrest, police checked his call records and put Kishan’s new number in surveillance. This helped police zero in on his location in Banda.

Police said when they raided Kishan’s hideout in Banda, he tried to escape on foot, but was nabbed.

Police are yet to recover Kishan’s share of the loot.