BENGALURU: Unidentified thieves took away a PSU bank's automated teller machine (ATM) containing Rs 12 lakh cash and dumped the machine after extracting the money at a graveyard near Tavarekere in high drama that spanned 2km area and 8-10 hours.
A gang detached the machine from a State Bank of India (SBI) ATM kiosk on Magadi Road at Chikkagollarahatti village, on the outskirts of Bengaluru, on the night of April 14. And the machine was found late on April 15. Police said the miscreants damaged CCTV cameras and took away the digital video recorder from the kiosk.
Miscreants damaged CCTV cameras, fled with recorder
According to Madanayakanahalli police, the miscreants stole the ATM machine and damaged CCTV cameras and took away the digital video recorder from the kiosk. However, police have managed to find clues about the gang by verifying CCTV footage from nearby commercial establishments and are making efforts to trace and arrest them.
A case of theft was registered based on a complaint by Ramachandra, a housekeeping staffer at the SBI ATM kiosk. "I used to open the kiosk by 6am every day and close it by 10pm. I closed the ATM by 9.25pm on April 14 due to rain. I returned to the kiosk by 5.45am the next day and found the machine missing. I have informed my company, which is responsible for housekeeping work and filed a complaint based on their direction," Ramachandra said in his complaint filed around 8am.
While the case is registered with Madanayakanahalli police station, Tavarekere police received information around 2pm the same day about an abandoned ATM machine in a graveyard. Teams from both stations rushed to the spot in the evening and found that the miscreants had cut open the machine using gas cutters and taken away the cash.
During their investigation, police have learnt about a similar theft by a gang which stole Rs 20 lakh cash from an SBI ATM in Maddur on the Bengaluru-Mysuru road on the night of April 12. In that case, the ATM machine remained at the kiosk and only cash was missing from it.
Police, however, suspect the involvement of the same gang. Police added that the gang is suspected to have used a stolen vehicle to transport the cash machine.
