Duo robs Ludhiana ATM where they slept regularly, now held from Lucknow.

Ludhiana: Two unemployed labourers who uprooted an ATM and fled with about ₹18 lakh after sleeping inside the kiosk for days to scope out the security have been arrested, police said.Punjab police arrested Sudhanshu Mahajan, 24, and Wasim Khan, 19, in Lucknow following a multi-state manhunt. Investigators recovered ₹13.7 lakh in cash and seized two newly purchased mobile phones bought with the stolen money.The theft occurred in the early hours of June 13 at a Bank of Baroda kiosk at Partap Chowk in Ludhiana. Police say that the duo used iron rods to pry the entire cash machine from its foundations.Deputy commissioner of police Jaskiranjit Singh Teja said the suspects, who worked as daily-wage labourers and had no prior criminal record, had used their homelessness as a cover.

They slept inside the air-conditioned kiosk for several nights under the pretense of escaping the summer heat while monitoring bank transit routines.Following the heist, the men allegedly purchased drugs and settled debts with local moneylenders before boarding a train to Khan’s home state of Uttar Pradesh on June 15. Police intercepted the men before they could purchase a motorcycle with the remaining money.

Following a formal complaint by bank manager Neelam Kumari, the Division Number 6 police station registered a first-information report under Section 305 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with theft committed in sensitive or highly protected locations.