KOLKATA: A medical representative who lost his job during covid lockdown was arrested by Bidhannagar Police for trying to break open two ATMs in Salt Lake over a period of two weeks but failing each time.
The modus operandi was unique and was straight out of South Indian movie scenes as he used to spray black paint on security cameras and then tried to cut open the machine with steel cutters before attempting to pull open the loosened lid with iron chains attached to his bike, which had no registration number plate. But while a lot of research had gone into the effort, the result drew blank as he failed in both attempts and got arrested while attempting a third one on Friday.
Palash Poddar, 41, a resident of Satgachi in Rajarhat, had targeted two ATM kiosks at CD block and BB block in Salt Lake, in the last two weeks, that didn’t have security guards.
“He first used to blacken out the security cameras inside the kiosk and then used a cutter machine to cut the front portion of the ATM. Next he would pull the machine with a chain attached to the back of the motorcycle and try to yank it off. But his technique had failed and he could not steal any cash,” said an officer of Bidhannagar Commissionerate.
The cops were first alerted by the manager of a nationalised bank in CD block on August 1 whose ATM was first targeted.
Cops said, although the majority of the cameras were damaged, they still managed to get the footage from some CCTVs as well as some cameras outside the kiosk.
He was arrested early on Friday when a police patrol team spotted him moving suspiciously near an ATM counter near the Punjab National Bank island. When cops asked him to stop, he tried to flee but was chased down by the policemen. An iron cutter, a can of spray paint and iron chains were found stashed in his motorbike.
On being produced before the court, his lawyer said he had lost his job during the Covid 19 induced lockdown and failed to bag a new job yet. His counsel demanded bail on the grounds that no cash was stolen by him and that whatever items he had used for crime were already seized by the cops. However, the magistrate rejected his bail plea and sent him to five days of police custody.
