ATM theft attempt thwarted, one arrested

NT Correspondent
Bengaluru

The police have arrested a person for attempting to rob money from the ATM machine near Soladevanahalli police station limits. The arrest was made after the security agency of a Canara Bank ATM Machine, installed near Chikkasandra, informed the jurisdictional police about suspicious activities near the ATM premises. Recently, the security officials had been receiving complaints from the kiosk users of technical issues while carrying out transactions. On June 7, a technical team found a server line cable of the machine was damaged. Scanning the CCTV footage around the ATM, the agency found a suspicious man closing the shutter to the ATM cabin between 10:30 and 11 pm and again opening it between 4:30 am and 5 am in the morning. After a thorough check, it was found that the person had been continuously doing it for five days. The agency immediately a l e r t e d the police station regarding the incident. Following the complaint, a team of police in plain clothes caught the accused when he arrived at the ATM around 11 pm on the same night. The accused was identified as Samarjot Singh, a native of Punjab. The police seized a 5kg gas cylinder, two 10 kg cylinders, a gas cutter, an air filter mask, tools, a dagger, a paint spray, a wire cutter and a car from the accused. Further the police found that the accused had been involved in several cases including HBT thefts, a murder- attempt and assault case filed against him at police stations including Agrahara, Jalahalli, Subramanyapura, Mico Layout and CK Achukattu in 2019. Further investigations are underway, police said. Kenyan held As part of an ongoing drive against drug peddling, the police have arrested a foreign national and allegedly seized 20 grams of MDMA crystals from him. The arrested person has been identified as Theri, 41, hailing from the Republic of Kenya. The police have also seized a bike. According to the police, Theri came to Bengaluru on a business visa.