HYDERABAD: Three men wearing nighties and masks allegedly broke into a State Bank of India (SBI) ATM in Gandhari mandal headquarters in the early hours of Sunday and fled with cash after cutting open the machine with a gas cutter.Police suspect that around Rs 25 lakh may have been stolen, though the exact amount is yet to be confirmed.According to police, the three unidentified men arrived at the ATM centre in a vehicle shortly after 1 am on Sunday. While one of them stood guard outside, the other two entered the centre and used a gas cutter to break open the ATM. They then took the cash and fled.The theft came to light on Sunday morning when locals noticed the damaged ATM and alerted the police. Police reached the spot and collected details about the incident.Police are examining CCTV footage from the ATM centre and surrounding areas to identify the suspects and trace their movements. Footage from cameras inside the centre reportedly captured two men in nighties cutting open the ATM and fleeing with the cash. Their identities and the place from which they arrived are yet to be established.Gandhari police station sub-inspector M Mahender said preliminary information suggests that the ATM operators deposited around Rs 30 lakh into the machine at about 1 pm on Friday.Customers are believed to have withdrawn around Rs 5 lakh by midnight on Saturday, leaving approximately Rs 25 lakh in the machine. Police suspect that the remaining amount was taken by the gang, but the exact cash loss has not yet been established.
