Money Stolen From ATM In Novel Way In Berhampur, Police On Lookout For ‘Unidentified’ Thief

Berhampur: Police have launched a manhunt to trace a man who used to steal money with a duplicate key from ATM of a bank in Odisha’s Berhampur city for the last few days.

According to police sources, the man, who has not been identified yet, targeted the ATM kiosk of IDBI Bank at Sales Tax Chhak in the city. Several customers had complained to the bank that the ATM machine in the kiosk was not dispensing cash even after the amount was deducted from their accounts.

Suspecting something foul, when the bank staff checked the footage from the CCTV camera in the ATM kiosk, they came to know how the money was stolen by the unidentified man and filed a complaint at Baidyanathpur police station.

Speaking on the modus operandi of the thief, investigating officer of the case Anjali Behera said he had somehow blocked the channel through which the cash comes out of the ATM machine with the help of a chip. Whenever a customer used to insert the debit or credit card into the machine and punch the keys for withdrawal of money, the machine operated normally. But the cash was blocked in the channel and instead of coming out, got stuck in a chamber.

The CCTV footage showed that the thief would come to the kiosk every morning. With the help of a duplicate key , he would open the chamber and bring out the cash stashed there overnight. Since he was wearing helmet and face mask, his identity could not be revealed from the CCTV footage in the kiosk or other shops nearby. However, steps are on to identify the thief and trace him, Behera said.