A 25-year-old man who attempted to steal money from an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) near Tambaram on Monday was arrested a few hours later after the police found him lurking in the vicinity.
The ATM kiosks of HDFC and ICICI banks are located next to each other at Vengaivaasal on Mambakkam Main Road. Around 2 a.m., a man entered the HDFC kiosk and tried to break open the vault containing the cash using a crowbar.
CCTV footage from the ATM showed him striking at the key hole repeatedly but in vain. He left the spot about 15 minutes later. Though the safety door outside the vault was severely damaged, it did not come apart, police said.
A few hours later, passers-by noticed the damaged ATM and alerted the police who inspected the spot and collected clues from the CCTV footage. Meanwhile, a police patrol vehicle picked up a man who was walking around with a crowbar.
Upon questioning, he confessed to attempting the ATM robbery. Police said the accused, S. Venkatesh (25) of Sithalapakkam, is a plumber. He matched the profile of the person recorded in the ATM’s CCTV footage, police said.
Usually, a security guard mans the ATM facilities, but on Monday, he was on leave, police said, and added that breaking into an ATM cash box was not at all easy as it was protected by heavy layers of steel.
Keywords: ATM robbery, Tambaram ATM
