Two arrested for stealing cash from ATMs

Two men arrested for stealing cash from several ATM kiosks in Mumbai using a screwdriver to break the cash dispensing belt of the machines.

MUMBAI: Two men have been arrested on Tuesday for allegedly stealing cash from several ATM kiosks.

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The accused have been identified as Abhishek Yadav, 22, and Dhirendra Pal, 22, of Kalwa in Thane.

According to Sudhir Kudalkar, senior police inspector, MHB Colony police station, on March 8, 2023, BCCB Bank manager Jai Furgos approached the police claiming that on March 6 he asked the maintenance staff to check the ATM machine in Borivali following complaints from customers.

The maintenance staff told the manager that the cash dispensing belt of the machine was damaged due to an attempt to steal cash. Furgos approached the police and based on his complaint an FIR was registered.

During the investigation, the police scanned CCTV recordings of the ATM centre and found that two men had entered the kiosk, broke the cash dispensing slot of the machine using a screwdriver and waited outside.

On Tuesday, the police also received a complaint from the manager of Canara Bank that two men had robbed ₹10,000 from one of their ATM machines after breaking the cash dispensing belt. The police officials said that cash was removed from other ATM kiosks in Dahisar, Nalasopara and other suburbs using similar modus operandi. “After scanning the CCTV footage, we found that the same men had committed the crime in two different places,” Kudalkar said.

The police then requested call detail records (CDR) of all the mobile phones which were active in the locations at the time of the robberies and zeroed in on a few mobile numbers. “Based on the mobile tower location, we tracked the numbers to Kalwa in Thane and arrested the two men,” Kudalkar added. The duo has several cases of machine tampering and robberies against them.