ATM stolen from outside Armed Reserve police quarters in Andhra Pradesh's Etcherla
SRIKAKULAM: Unknown miscreants decamped with an ATM machine reportedly after they failed to open the chest late Friday night in Etcherla town of the district. What came as a shock was that the machine was taken away from the centre which was located near the Armed Reserve (AR) police quarters and infact, the ATM was placed at the location a year back on the request of the policemen living in the quarters.
Etcherla police and bank officials said there was about Rs 8.6 lakh cash in the ATM of the State Bank of India (SBI). Bank officials said Rs 20 lakh was loaded in the ATM on July 4th and the last transaction took place around 11 pm on Friday.
With the CCTVs damaged by the miscreants, police said they could not arrive on a conclusion on the number of persons involved in the crime. "We suspect the ATM was stolen after 11 pm,'' a police officer said adding that the miscreants after failing to open the chest had decamped with the entire machine.
"The miscreants removed the machine from the stand and had shifted it from the centre on a transport vehicle,'' police suspect.
About 500 families of AR police reside in the quarters and based on their request only, the ATM was being operated from the location.
People were shocked to see the empty ATM room on Saturday morning and alerted the police who took up investigation based on a complaint by the SBI Etcherla branch manager Naresh.
Srikakulam district Superintendent of Police Ammireddy rushed to Etcherla and inspected the centre. A hunt has been launched in the district and the police of neighbour district and Odisha were alerted, sources said. Police said there was no security guard posted at the ATM centre.
Meanwhile, police said this is the second case of stealing away an ATM machine in the district. About four years back, an ATM machine on the Kotturu main road was stolen and later dumped on the village outskirts by the offenders who failed to open the chest.
In August 2016 also, miscreants made a vain bid to decamp with a ATM at Ponduru RTC complex but failed to do so. They damaged the machine and left.