Between Aug 25 and Sept 5, three Chennai suburbs saw as many ATM burglaries. While probing the crimes, Tamil Nadu police stumbled upon something sensational: a dedicated ‘school’ for ATM burglars, with rookies trained using real ATMs, either rebuilt from scrap or imported in ‘cut condition’.Such ‘classrooms’ bustle in villages of Haryana’s Nuh, Palwal and Mewat regions, where experienced burglars teach ‘students’ how to break open ATMs, disable CCTV cameras and remove cash without damaging the currency.These training centres in Haryana offer recruits something a conventional classroom can’t — access to machines similar to the ones they would later target. A discarded ATM became a practical model. Blank paper became currency. Welding and gas-cutting equipment became training tools.The test was measured in minutes: how quickly a recruit could breach the cash chest without destroying the currency inside. A ‘meritorious’ recruit would then head a team of four or five men and travel to different parts of the nation.Old ATMs discarded by banks were purchased as scrap and used for training. New models were sourced through contacts abroad. Police said some machines were cut into two pieces before being sent to India in containers along with iron and other scrap material. Once brought into the country, the pieces were reassembled using arc welding and gas welding and converted into training models.Tamil Nadu police, now preparing to enter the villages in Nuh, Palwal and Mewat, have turned towards the infrastructure behind the crimes — the trainers, machines, equipment, transporters, financiers and local networks that enable an ATM burglary gang to operate across state borders.In Somangalam, the burglars used gas-cutting equipment and emptied the ATM cash chest. At Gummidipoondi, the modus operandi was repeated. At Vellavedu, another gang removed the entire ATM and transported it in a stolen hearse before breaking it open.The common feature was the burglars’ familiarity with the machines and their knack for using welding machines without singeing the currency inside.Tambaram city police commissioner Prem Anand Sinha said, “The team formally arrested one of the suspects, Pawan Kumar, who was detained in Jaipur prison, in the Somangalam ATM burglary.” Mohammad Mustafa was later arrested, while the third suspect is absconding.Officers say the burglars built a network and cultivated contacts among local village heads and police personnel, making searches and arrests more difficult. “We cannot enter the villages without informing the police personnel, and in most cases, the police openly refuse to cooperate,” said an officer.The challenge wasn’t limited to identifying those who break open ATMs. Police had to establish who trained them, where they obtained machines and equipment, who arranged vehicles and accommodation and how the stolen cash was distributed.The burgled ATM at Vellavedu’s Kudapakkam area, containing between ₹10 lakh and ₹12 lakh, posed a different challenge. This gang used a different method. Instead of breaking open the machine at the kiosk, they welded out an entire ATM from its installation. A stolen hearse was then used to cart away the machine. Far away from the scene of the occurrence, they took their time to break open the chest and access the cash inside.The stolen hearse proved to be the lead for the special team, which eventually went to West Bengal to nab three suspects — SK Sameer, Sarbar Khan and Rasool.However, joint commissioner R Sivakumar said, “Suspects in the Vellavedu ATM heist were a copycat gang that tried to put the blame on the Haryana gang and escape with the booty.”
