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Between Aug 25 and Sept 5, three Chennai suburbs saw as many ATM burglaries.
Police said some machines were cut into two pieces before being sent to India in containers along with iron and other scrap material. Tambaram city police commissioner Prem Anand Sinha said, “The team formally arrested one of the suspects, Pawan Kumar , who was detained in Jaipur prison, in the Somangalam ATM burglary. “We cannot enter the villages without informing the police personnel, and in most cases, the police openly refuse to cooperate,” said an officer.
Tamil Nadu police stumbled upon something sensational: a dedicated ‘school’ for ATM burglars, with rookies trained using real ATMs, either rebuilt from scrap or imported in ‘cut condition’ While probing the crimes. Old ATMs discarded by banks were purchased as scrap and used for training. New models were sourced through contacts abroad. Tamil Nadu police, now preparing to enter the villages in Nuh, Palwal and Mewat, have turned towards the infrastructure behind the crimes — the trainers, machines, equipment, transporters, financiers and local networks that enable an ATM burglary gang to operate across state borders. Mohammad Mustafa was later arrested, while the third suspect is absconding. Officers say the burglars built a network and cultivated contacts among local village heads and police personnel, making searches and arrests more difficult. The challenge wasn’t limited to identifying those who break open ATMs. Police had to establish who trained them, where they obtained machines and equipment, who arranged vehicles and accommodation and how the stolen cash was distributed.