Chennai ATM Theft: Know The Plot Of Unique Robbery To Siphon Off Rs 45 Lakh From SBI

A sum of Rs 4.5 lakh was recovered from the arrested person, and the special team is camping at Faridabad to arrest the remaining accused

Representative Photo

Chennai: The details of the recent theft from the largest bank State Bank of India's (SBI) deposit machines to the tune of Rs 48 lakh seem no less than a script of a Bollywood movie. One person has been arrested in connection with the case from Haryana in connection with the theft of various cash deposit machines of SBI in Tamil Nadu.

In a first-of-its-kind robbery, the police have recovered Rs 4.5 lakh from him. Around 14 cases of such fraud in SBI ATMs have taken place in the city from June 15-18, as per the police release and more than five groups of people are suspected to be behind this ATM crime.

As per the official release, investigation by a special team said "some accused have come from northern States and committed these offences." The release said almost Rs 45 lakh has been syphoned off. The special team has arrested Amir Arsh of Ballabhgarh with the help of the Haryana State police.

In the course of the investigation, the accused confessed to the crime and explained the modus operandi and provided other leads.

"It is learnt that more than five groups have operated in Chennai city. A sum of Rs 4.5 lakh was recovered from him (the arrested person). The special team is camping at Faridabad to arrest the remaining accused," it added.

What was the modus operandi?

A total of Rs 48 lakh has been stolen from Automated Cash Withdrawal and Deposit Machines also known as Cash Deposit Machines (CDM) located in various places, including Velachery here.

There is a 20-second window at the time of withdrawal in ATMs for customers to take the cash and if it was not done, the cash goes back into the machines.

If not taken, the lid of the machine would slide and get closed.

The suspects seem to have meticulously planned the theft. The probe revealed that the accused first took the cash from the machines (using withdrawal option in such machines) and managed to block the sensor signals for a while using their hands by keeping the lid open.

While the sensors appeared to have misread this action for "cash not being taken away" by customers and sent messages to servers that cash has not been withdrawn. Even as the related bank accounts were not debited while cash was taken away from machines.

The State Bank of India (SBI), also halted the operation of its ATMs in Tamil Nadu after a two-member gang exploited technical flaws and stole at least Rs 48 lakh.