HYDERABAD: Twenty four hours after a woman techie was robbed at gunpoint inside an ATM in Yousufguda, the Task Force sleuths arrested the man responsible for the offence from a hostel in Ameerpet on Thursday.
The accused is 21-year-old Pedapally Shiva Kumar Reddy, who hails from Kadapa district.
A 9MM country-made pistol, six live rounds, a button knife, five mobile phones, three ATM cards were recovered from him.
Though the police are yet to interrogate him thoroughly and will do so after seeking his police custody after being produced in the court, they believe that Reddy was operating alone and was reportedly planning more such offences in the city.
On Wednesday, Shiva Kumar Reddy robbed 24-year-old Chinta Sri Lalitha, a software employee, when she went to withdraw money from an ATM kiosk at Yousufguda. The accused fired into the wall to scare her, and took away her gold chain, earrings.
The accused, a class 10 class pass, is a native of Vallur village in Kadapa district. He shifted base to Hyderabad three years ago in search of job, Hyderabad police commissioner M Mahendar Reddy told a press conference on Thursday.
Shiv Kumar, who came to Hyderabad about three years ago, told the investigating officers that he was used to a lavish lifestyle, and decided to commit the robbery for easy money, the commissioner said. As part of the plan, he recced the ATM kiosk and its surroundings, and waited for women or elderly people to visit the kiosk, when Lalitha became the victim.
‘’As of now, we suspect that he was operating alone but we will interrogate him thoroughly to find out if he has any accomplices,’’ sources said.
“The accused claims it was his first robbery, and he bought the pistol through his acquaintance. But there is a need to verify these aspects,” Reddy said.
A quick check of his antecedents revealed that this could be his first offence though the intention behind buying a weapon confirms suspicion that he intended to commit similar offences.
It is learnt that soon after committing the offence, Shiva Kumar Reddy stayed put in his hostel and made no attempt to escape from Hyderabad.
‘’We will monitor people coming from outside and staying in hostels, source of livelihood and their activities,’’ Mahendar Reddy said adding they will convince the bank managements to appoint security guards at ATMs.