The intruders entered the kiosk using gas cutters and made away with cash
Hyderabad: In a meticulously committed offence, thieves used spray tactic to steal more than Rs.12 lakh from an ATM kiosk at Ankireddygudem in Choutuppal mandal in Nalgonda district.
Though the incident occurred early on Wednesday, it came to light on Thursday after the ATM in-charge Gangadhara Murthy alerted the police. As the bank got ‘service down’ information, Murthy rushed to the kiosk and found that the ATM machine was damaged.
Choutuppal Sub-Inspector K Yadagiri said the intruders suspected to be at least three members first blurred the surveillance camera in the kiosk and made it incapacitated from identifying them for their offence. They then used a gas cutter to carefully cut the ATM machine to steal money from the kiosk.
Such was the perfection that the intruders took necessary steps from causing damage to currency notes while cutting the machine using a gas cutter. After opening it, the intruders collected currency bundles and escaped from the spot.
Yadagari said the intruders used black spray to make the surveillance camera blur, preventing capture the images and added that the clues team and fingerprint experts were pressed into service to collect clues from the kiosk.
“We primarily suspect the involvement of professional gang members in the offence as they took all precautionary measures while executing their plan,” he explained. He said the gang used the gas cutter, which would not produce any sound.
Based on a complaint lodged by Murthy, the police booked a case under provisions of BNS and took up investigation. The police are searching for clues to identify intruders from the footage of CCTVs installed at other establishments near the kiosk. Senior police officials inspected the spot and enquired about the incident with the bank officials.
