The Thiruvanmiyur police, of the Greater Chennai City Police (GCP), have busted a gang from Uttar Pradesh suspected of using an unusual technique to carry out ATM thefts across several locations in Tamil Nadu. Three men have been arrested.
Sources in the police said a customer visited a State Bank of India (SBI) ATM at Thiruvalluvar Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur, on Saturday (May 24, 2025) night, and attempted to withdraw ₹1,500. Though he received a text message stating money was debited from his account, the machine did not dispense any cash. The customer then raised a complaint with the bank and left the spot.
Several other customers too experienced the same issue until next morning. Most of them left the ATM assuming the debit would be auto-reversed.
This issue came to the notice of Thiruvanmiyur police, and they called the bank staff on Sunday (May 25, 2025) morning. Officials of the SBI in Mumbai, in turn, called a representative of the Hitachi ATM service to check the machine.
K. Naren Kumar, of the Hitachi ATM service, visited the spot and found that the cash dispenser was blocked from the inside using a black-coloured cardboard material. Based on his complaint, the police registered a case and launched an investigation. Greater Chennai City Police Commissioner A. Arun formed two special teams to trace those involved in tampering with the ATM.
The special teams analysed the call records of a few suspects and combed through CCTV footage. The police arrested three suspects — Kuldeep Singh, 26, Brijbhan, 30, and Sumit Yadav, 33, of Uttar Pradesh — under the Thiruvanmiyur police limits. No customer has lost any money from the ATM in Thiruvanmiyur, and there was only an attempt to steal cash, the police confirmed.
Modus operandi
However, the gang has been involved in other such thefts across the city, the police said. Explaining the modus operandi of the gang, a senior police officer said they open an ATM using a key of their own and stick a black cardboard inside the cash dispenser, before locking it up and hiding somewhere nearby. After disappointed customers leave the ATM without getting their money, the gang members, pretending to be ordinary customers, enter the kiosk and steal the cash stuck inside the dispenser.
The police officer said the gang had been operating in the city for the past three months. They have struck ATMs in Vandalur, Chennai city, and surrounding areas. Each time, they have managed to escape with the stolen cash; they take taxis to railway stations and then trains to their hometowns in Uttar Pradesh.
The police said the quantum of money lost from the ATMs has still not been ascertained, as no complaint has been received so far. Further investigation is under way to determine whether others are part of the gang.
The police seized a key used for the ATM theft, the black cardboard material, and double-sided tapes from the accused.
Published – May 26, 2025 02:30 pm IST
