Bank worker steals ₹8.2L from ATM

Bank worker steals ₹8.2L from ATM

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  02.06.2020

An employee of a private bank opened its ATM at Maduravoyal using a password unchanged for more than three years and fled with Rs 8.2 lakh on Sunday, police said. West Mambalam resident D Sivanandhan, who was arrested on Monday with the help of CCTV camera footage, entered the ATM kiosk posing as a man spraying disinfectant. A court is set to send him to jail.

A police officer said Sivanandhan, 39, whose wife is an employee in the state home department, told investigators that he decided to steal from the ATM as he was unable to pay off the loan he had taken to construct a house in his native town of Tuticorin. The password he used to open the ATM was the one that was set three years ago when he was at the Maduravoyal branch, police said. He was later transferred to the Ambattur branch of the bank.

At 12.30pm on Sunday, the officer said, Sivanandhan entered the ATM kiosk of the bank branch on MMDA East Main Road in Maduravoyal. His face was masked and he carried a spray can. Telling the security guard he had to sanitize the kiosk, he entered and used the old password. The cash chest opened and he began bundling the cash.

A customer waiting outside the kiosk to withdraw the money noticed Sivanandhan opening the cash chest, but he remained silent as he thought that he could be employee. It was only after he saw the man rush out of the booth and board an autorickshaw in a hurry that he realized something was amiss.

The customer immediately contacted the branch manager Rajkumar who arrived, made a check and found Rs 8.2 lakh missing. Based on his complaint, the Maduravoyal police registered a case and arrested Sivanandham after a hunt.

A police officer said Sivanandhan, 39, whose wife is an employee in the state home department, told investigators that he decided to steal from the ATM as he was unable to pay off the loan he had taken to construct a house in his native town of Tuticorin