COIMBATORE: On a day when investigators were racking their brains for leads into the robbery at an ATM kiosk near Thanneerpandal on Vilankuruchi Road, news of another heist at another kiosk the very same night emerged. The same gang made away with `26 lakh from a kiosk hardly 100 metres from the spot in focus last night. However, the bank management realised they had been robbed only on Monday morning when a private agency worker reached the kiosk to fill cash in the chest.
The matter came to light when employees of a private ATM cash filling agency reached the ATM to find the shutter locked. The employees broke open the lock only to find ATM dismantled and cash missing. While sources said that `26 lakh was lost, the exact quantum is yet to be ascertained by the bank.
On information, the bank management lodged a complaint in the noon. After preliminary probe, police recovered CCTV footage from outside the ATM. “CCTV footage show three masked men involved in the Axis bank burglary. Though the CCTV focused on the car, vehicle registration number was not clear,” sources told Express.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) P Perumal inspected the spot and directed a special team to speed up investigations. According to top police officials, an eye-witness told the police that the burglars came in a car with Maharashtra registration number. Stating that the gang perfected their modus operandi over time.
A source said, “The gang has made more than 50 similar attempts with little success. Its first successful attempt came at Ayyankottai in Madurai on November 21. They managed to loot `1.92 lakh. The Coimbatore burglary spree is their second successful attempt in the State, where they looted nearly `30 lakh from the two ATM kiosks.”
“The gang employed the same technique at another bank kiosk on Avinashi Road but failed. They moved ahead and struck gold at the next two kiosks,” the official added.The burglary assumes significance as IndusInd bank had some security arrangements, including emergency alarm.“In the Axis bank, they either had no security or the culprits were smart enough to crack the security codes, which is why the incident came to light after 36 hours,” an official said.