Coimbatore: A day after a four-member gang stole an automated teller machine (ATM) of Bank of Baroda on Koolipalayam Four Road near Uthukuli in Tirupur district, the machine was found abandoned on a vacant land at Velliyampalayam, some 300 metres away from Salem-Kochi National Highway, in Erode in a damaged condition on Monday.
The gang had uprooted the ATM that was fixed to the floor of the booth after tying it around with a crane belt and connecting it to a stolen sports utility vehicle (SUV), which was then pulled away at full throttle around 4.30 am on Sunday. CCTV footage of the incident had gone viral on social media.
The gang had then taken the ATM with Rs 1,00,100 away in the SUV, which was found abandoned at Vijayamangalam near Perundurai in Erode district the same day. Tirupur police officials had formed six special teams to nab the gang members.
A police officer said the gang had taken the ATM to an isolated place at Velliyampalayam and opened it with a welding machine to steal the cash. “They also consumed alcohol from there and left behind the ATM and liquor bottles. Forensic experts have lifted fingerprints from the bottles and ATM.”
The Tirupur rural police said they were probing various angles and would arrest the ATM burglars at the earliest.