Dharmavaram to Bangalore: ATM butcher on the prowl
Jyothi assailant had murdered woman in AP, stolen cards.
Bangalore: It appears that 38-year-old Jyothi Udaykumar was not the ATM butcher’s first victim. Official sources confirmed that the suspect murdered another woman, Pramilamma in an ATM after forcing her to reveal her PIN number in Dharmavaram in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh on November 10.
He then allegedly fled with two of her ATM cards, which he used to withdraw money the very next day.
CCTV footage from an ATM of a nationalised bank in Kadiri, which is 78 km from Dharmavaram in the same district, shows the same suspect withdrawing money in two separate transactions on November 11.
The suspect is clearly visible wearing the same blue and white striped shirt and khaki pants he had worn when he attacked Jyothi on November 19.
According to official sources, the suspect first makes a transaction at 10.32 am for Rs 400 and his only other transaction at the same ATM is almost 32 hours later at 5.54 pm the next day, when he withdraws Rs 1,500.
Unconfirmed reports, however, suggest that he may have withdrawn up to Rs 20,000 using Pramilamma’s cards from other ATMs in surrounding areas.
On Sunday, another woman reportedly approached the SJ Park police, claiming that she had also been robbed by the suspect at the same Corporation Bank ATM on JC Road. The woman said she saw the brutal attack on Jyothi on TV and decided to inform the police.
But the police were yet to confirm the details. A senior police officer said, “The suspect seems least bothered that the police are on the lookout for him. The fact that he is seen wearing the same clothes in both attacks shows that he doesn't care about being recognised or getting caught. The public should be extremely careful of this man, who appears to be a psychopath.”
“His modus operandi involves targeting middle-aged women in lonely spots during the early or late hours of the day,” he said.