ATM cash theft mystery solved by police,driver arrested

Hyderabad: Seluths of Commissioner’s Task force on Thursday solved the mystery behind tbe sensational theft of cash from ATMs.

The driver of an agency that dispenses cash for ATMs, who fled with around Rs 90 lakh and the vehicle, was arrested by the Hyderabad Task Force in a joint operation with the Chilkalguda police here on Thursday. The police recovered cash from his possession.

POlice commissioner Hyderabad Anjani Kumar told that D Prakash a resident of Nagole and native of Nidadavolu in West Godavari of Andhra Pradesh, who claimed to be a civil engineer, was actually working as a driver on contract basis with a cash dispensing agency in Bowenpally and Lower Tank Bund and was engaged in transporting cash from banks and refilling ATMs.

City Police Commissioner also said Prakash along with a gunman and two custodians was assigned on Monday the task of transporting cash from the State Bank of India to different ATMs. They collected Rs 1.60 crore from the SBI in Koti and came to the SBI ATMs in Chilkalguda in the afternoon.

“The gunman and custodian took out Rs 68 lakh to refill the ATM. While they were refilling, Prakash on the pretext of taking a ‘U’ turn, fled with the cash and the vehicle,” he said.

The Commissioner said the Task Force team comprising 28 members scanned footage from nearly 500 CCTVs and found Prakash hiring an auto-rickshaw and getting down in Nagole with two cash bags in his hands.