Police suspect a trained ATM mechanic's involvement in the heist, and registration number of the miscreant's car has been identified.
Published Feb 13, 2023 | 1:59 PM ⚊ Updated Feb 13, 2023 | 1:59 PM
One of the ATM's that was cut open by the thieves at Tiruvannamalai. (Supplied)
In a span of five hours, nearly ₹87 lakh was looted by the cutting open four ATMs in Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu in the wee hours of Sunday, 12 February, by a group of unidentified burglars.
According to the police, all the looted ATMs were located on the Cuddalore-Chittoor stretch of NH 38, within a radius of 40 km. Of the four ATMs, three belong to the State Bank of India (SBI) and one to India One.
Speaking to South First, Inspector General of Police of (North Zone) N Kannan said that the burglars used a gas-welding machine to cut open the ATM machines and damaged all the CCTV cameras in the kiosks.
“A trained ATM mechanic is suspected to be involved in the heist, along with three or four persons, and the burglars could be outsiders. We are in touch with other states’ police and have vital information about the miscreants,” said Kannan.
At around midnight Sunday, a patrol police found an ATM cut open near Mariamman Kovil in Tiruvannamalai town. They also found that the CCTV cameras were burnt.
Soon they found another ATM cut open in a similar manner within half a kilometre — on Thandrampattu main road, near the bus stand.
The miscreants used a gas-welding machine to cut open the chest box of the ATM and looted ₹33 lakh from the ATM near the temple and ₹30 lakh from the ATM near the bus stand. The ATMs were burnt after the robbery.
Subsequently, a third theft was reported in Kalasapakkam — 25 km from the first two spots. The same modus operandi was used here as well. All these three ATMs belonged to SBI. According to police, ₹20 lakh was looted from the third ATM.
The fourth burglary was reported around 4 am in Polur — 10 km from the third spot. This ATM belonged to India One, a private ATM service provider. Around ₹3 lakh was looted from this ATM and there were no CCTV cameras there.
Following the chain of thefts within a span of five hours, the northern zone police were alerted and vehicle checks were intensified. CCTV footage was gathered from the shops on the NH stretch
According to sources, the registration number of the car in which the miscreants were travelling was identified and the police recovered a few fingerprints from the crime scenes.
The police had also sought tips from the Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh police on similar crimes that were reported in their respective states.
Seven teams were formed to investigate the thefts. Two teams left for Andhra Pradesh as the movement of the robbers was traced towards the state. Further investigation is on.
