Indore: Three nabbed for stealing cash ATMs after opening them with gas cutters

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Three people have been arrested for allegedly stealing cash from ATMs after opening them with gas-cutters, the police said on Monday.

Shad Mohammad, 25, Mustakim, 19, and Mohammad Rahul, 30, hailing from Haryana, on the night of February 13, had tried to open an ATM in the Betma area with a gas-cutter, leading to a fire resulting in currency worth lakhs of rupees getting burnt, superintendent of police (rural) Bhagwat Singh Birde said.

“The police had managed to douse the fire and save Rs 18 lakh in the ATM. However, by then, the three had fled. They’ve now been arrested and remanded in police custody for further probe. We suspect they’re involved in other ATM thefts where gas-cutters were used,” the SP said.

Betma police station-in-charge Sanjay Sharma said that, according to the CCTV footage, the accused entered an ATM kiosk with a gas-cutter and attempted to break the ATM’s cash boxes. As they tried to break into the machine using the gas-cutter, it suddenly caught fire and Rs 1,005,400 out of Rs 1,806,500 stuffed into the first ATM were burnt, while Rs 1,997,800 stuffed in another ATM were reduced to ashes.

Alarmed by the flames which engulfed the entire cash box and ATMs, the burglars fled leaving the gas-cutter behind.