Mumbai (Mid-Day): The Property Cell of the Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested the driver who had fled with an ATM-bound van carrying cash worth Rs 1.28 crore.

On Thursday, the accused, identified as driver Amar Singh, stole the ATM refilling van belonging to Logicash from Trombay and the empty van was later found in Matunga.

According to the police, it was a well-planned heist. “Singh, who was working for Logicash for the past three months had neither submitted his photo ID proof nor informed the company about his change in address.

The company didn’t have a single photo of Singh and only managed to provide a CCTV footage of him,” said Dhanajay Kulkarni, deputy commissioner of police, Mumbai Crime Branch.

After fleeing with the loot, Singh switched off his phone and bought a new one.

To avoid identification, he even changed his look by shaving off his beard and trimming his hair. “Since he had switched off his phone, it was rather difficult to trace him. The company he worked for couldn't help us much with his whereabouts either. All we knew was that he hails from Patna, Bihar,” said Nitin Patil, assistant police inspector of Property Cell of the Crime Branch.

The police had a breakthrough in the case when Singh switched on his old phone. It didn't take the cops much effort to trace him to Kalyan station. They then started searching all the Patna-bound trains and finally managed to nab him. He had packed all the cash in two bags that he had purchased and was waiting at Kalyan station to catch a train when we nabbed him,” said Patil.