Tamil Nadu: Entire ATM stolen in 3rd hit in 2 weeks

CHENNAI: In yet another brazen heist, the third in just two weeks, an entire ATM loaded with cash was uprooted and stolen from Koodapakkam near Vellavaedu in Tiruvallur district on Saturday. 

The latest target was a white-label ATM situated along the Chennai–Tirupati National Highway, in Avadi City Police limits. 

White-label ATMs are automated teller machines set up, owned, and operated by non-banking companies rather than traditional banks.

Members of the public who arrived to withdraw cash on Saturday morning noticed that the machine was missing and immediately alerted the authorities. A police team headed by Poonamallee Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) inspected the crime scene and launched an investigation.

Investigators are scrutinising CCTV footage from surrounding commercial units to establish the exact time of the heist, identify the number of suspects involved, and trace the vehicle used to haul away the heavy machine.

Unlike the previous two ATM robberies, where gangs broke open the cash kiosks, the perpetrators in Saturday’s incident fled with the entire machine. Preliminary inquiries indicate that the ATM contained over Rs 5 lakh at the time of the theft.

Police are now probing whether the same inter-State network was behind the earlier strikes at Somangalam under Tambaram City police limits and near Gummidipoondi in Tiruvallur district two weeks ago.

In the Somangalam incident in Kancheepuram district, a gang targeted an ICICI Bank ATM on the Sriperumbudur–Kundrathur highway, using a gas-welding torch to cut open the vault before escaping with Rs 10 lakh. A similar modus operandi was employed in Gummidipoondi, where thieves made off with Rs 11.5 lakh.

The vehicle used in the Somangalam heist was intercepted at the Telangana–Maharashtra border on August 25, but four suspects managed to flee during the operation. Special teams tracking their movements learned they had escaped to Haryana.

Meanwhile, one of the key suspects, Pawan Kumar, was arrested by Jaipur Police in connection with a case registered at the Vaishali Nagar station. Interrogation by Tambaram police confirmed that Kumar had visited the crime scene along with four accomplices who remain on the run.