A sacked constable of the Delhi police had masterminded the loot in the ATM of a nationalised bank at Boulbari, Jalpaiguri, early on Saturday, senior police officers said on Monday.

Asluf Khan, an ex-police constable from Tauru village of Haryana, was nabbed with Samsher Khan of Bihar in the small hours of Sunday.

The duo were arrested from Baikunthapur forest near Gajoldoba. On Sunday evening, Irfan Khan, from Alwar in Rajasthan, was also arrested from the same forested area.

One more gang member and the driver of their SUV are still traceless.

“Asluf Khan was a constable attached with the Delhi police. In 2016, he was terminated from his service due to certain anti-social activities. He had planned the ATM loot and led the team,” Khandbahale Umesh Ganpath, the Jalpaiguri superintendent of police, said on Monday.

During the investigation, the police have come to know that after losing his job, Asluf got involved in different criminal activities. He had also made a gang comprising criminals from other states.

“While looting the ATM, he wore a cap of the Delhi police,” said the senior police officer.

The gang, police sources said, had used a gas cutter to break into the ATM kiosk and decamped with ₹54 lakh in cash.

While they were escaping from the spot in an SUV, a resident had managed to click photos of the vehicle and informed the police.

The arrested trio had told the police that they had spent Saturday night in the forest.

Police sources had said that the forest terrain with wildlife proved to be an inhospitable hideout for the gang, especially as it rained interminably. Multiple police teams, along with foresters had fanned out and drone cameras had been deployed to scan the forest to trace them.

The police have so far recovered ₹15.48 lakh in cash from those arrested. Also, fake number plates of vehicles, gas cutters and caps and some other items were found in the SUV that they abandoned. Their cellphones were also seized.

“We suspect the remaining two are still hiding somewhere in Jalpaiguri district, and searches are on,” said the Jalpaiguri SP.