TIRUVANNAMALAI: In a daring heist, a group of burglars, suspected to be from outside Tamil Nadu, cut open four ATMs located within a radius of 40km with gas-welding machines in Tiruvannamalai early on Sunday and decamped with Rs 70 lakh cash.
According to sources, the first theft was reported by beat police from near Mariamman Kovil around 2 am followed by Theni Malai located 500 metres from the first spot. Both ATMs are located in Tiruvannamalai town. The third incident was reported in Kalasapakkam, located 25 km from Tiruvannamalai town on Vellore route, and fourth one in Polur, about 10 km from Kalasapakkam, around 4 am. While three are State Bank of India (SBI) ATMs, fourth one is an India One ATM.
Inspector General of Police (IG) (North) N Kannan, Vellore DIG M S Muthusamy, Tiruvannamalai SP K Karthikeyan, Vellore SP S Rajesh Kannan and Tirupathur SP K Balla Krisshnan visited the spots. Speaking to reporters, Kannan said, “The burglars used a gas-welding machine to cut open the ATMs. We could not say how many were involved, but they worked as a group. We have received some technical inputs based on which we are proceeding with the probe. We will nab them soon.”
ATM heist: Police teams sent to AP & K’taka, security tightened
“The burglars looted the ATMs one after the other. The incident came to light when beat police patrolling the areas found the ATMs open. We also received alerts from banks about the loot,” Tiruvannamalai SP Karthikeyan told TNIE. The burglars had used the same car bearing Andhra Pradesh registration number to escape from the crime scenes, sources said.
“The burglars are from other states and we will establish their identities soon. The gang seemed to have full knowledge about the functioning of ATMs,” the IG said. When asked about the alarm system in the ATMs, Kannan said, “The gang targeted a particular type of ATMs. Similar incidents had happened in Maharashtra, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh.
We are in touch with these state police.” When asked why incidents of ATM thefts occur repeatedly even when there are police patrolling at night, Kannan said, “We have to check what type of security lapses had led to these incidents. We have identified some vulnerable spots.
Earlier, ATMs were guarded by security personnel but now there are only CCTV cameras.” Fingerprint experts have lifted samples from the crime spots and sent them for analysis. Five special teams have been formed to conduct the investigation.
Three special police teams have also been sent to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, sources said. Security has been tightened at border check posts in and around Tiruvannamalai district and in neighbouring districts and vehicle checks were intensified on Sunday.