Money Heist in Nalgonda: Burglars flee with Rs 23 lakh from SBI ATM

Five persons who were involved in the incident, sprayed black paint on the CCTV cameras and using a gas cutter, cut open the cash chest and stole Rs 23 lakh from it

Nalgonda: Burglars fled with Rs 23 lakh after cutting open the cash chest of an ATM of the State Bank of India (SBI) at Aitipamula of Kattangur mandal in the district in the early hours of Sunday.

According to footage from a CCTV camera installed in the ATM kiosk, five persons were involved in the incident. They came to the kiosk in a Maruti Omni van and three persons wearing masks entered the kiosk while the other two stood guard outside. They then sprayed black paint on the CCTV cameras and using a gas cutter, cut open the cash chest and stole Rs 23 lakh from it.

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According to the police, the SBI ATM was located beside the National Highway No 65 at Aitipamula and had two machines in it, one maintained by a cash replenishment agency and the other by the SBI local branch. The cash was stolen from the machine maintained by the private agency. The burglars tried to cut open the cash chest of the second machine, which had Rs 40 lakh, but failed. Police said the alarm in the kiosk did not function, the reasons of which were being ascertained.

A higher official of the bank alerted the branch manager following a warning received through another alert-based surveillance system, police said, adding that the CLUES team had collected fingerprints and two iron rods left behind by the burglars.

Inspector of Police (Nakrekal rural) Raghava Rao said they had reached the spot after a complaint from bank branch manager Veera Babu.

“We are investigating and the culprits will be arrested soon. Details of all vehicles that passed through toll plazas at Panthangi and Korlapahad on National Highway No.65 are being verified to identify the van used by them,” he said.

Haryana gang suspected

On the other hand, the police were suspecting the role of a gang from Haryana in the incident. The modus operandi of the gang was similar to that used in the Nalgonda incident. Over a year ago, a three-member Haryana gang had committed a theft from an ATM centre at Manyamchelka in Nalgonda town in similar fashion. The police had managed to arrest one of them, though the rest of the gang managed to escape.