Hyderabad: In a brazen early morning heist, a gang of masked thieves stole an entire IDFC First Bank ATM in Dharmavaram town of Sri Sathya Sai district in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, May 6. Three masked individuals arrived at the scene in an SUV, initially attempting to break open the ATM using iron rods. When that failed, they resorted to a bolder method.
The gang tied ropes around the machine and forcefully dragged it out using the Bolero vehicle, loaded it and fled towards Battalapalli. Police reached the scene shortly after and launched a search operation. CCTV footage from the area is being analysed to identify the culprits.
The amount of cash inside the ATM at the time of the theft has not been officially disclosed. Investigation is currently underway.
A worrying pattern of ATM robberies
This incident is part of a troubling pattern of ATM robberies reported across the two Telugu states in recent months.
In the most audacious case, burglars stole an entire SBI ATM located just a few metres from the Yellareddypet police station in Rajanna-Sircilla district, Telangana, in the early hours of April 11. Unable to break it open, the thieves dug up the machine and carried it away in a vehicle. The stolen ATM was later found abandoned near Akkapalli, as the thieves had failed to break it open and fled without the cash.
Earlier, in December 2025, a five-member gang used gas cutters to break into two ATMs in Nizamabad city, looting around Rs 39 lakh in total from an SBI ATM in Sainagar and a DCB ATM in Aryanagar.
