Two ATM kiosks burgled along Rajiv Rahadari near Karimnagar

Two ATM kiosks of a nationalised bank were burgled in the early hours of Sunday along Rajiv Rahadari (State Highway 1) near Karimnagar, with the robbers escaping with cash after disabling surveillance cameras and cutting open an ATM chest with a gas cutter.

The first incident occurred at Durshed, under the Karimnagar Police Commissionerate, where three masked men entered an ATM kiosk around 3.30 a.m., damaged the CCTV cameras and cut open the cash chest. They fled in a four-wheeler with roughly ₹8 lakh. A burglar alarm at the bank's central control room was triggered, after which officials alerted local bank staff.

In the second incident near Thimmapur, two masked miscreants targeted another ATM. One of them was dressed in women's attire and spray-painted the CCTV camera at the entrance before entering the kiosk. The pair fled with cash, though the exact amount was yet to be ascertained.

It was not immediately clear whether the same gang was behind both robberies. The incidents bear similarities to an ATM robbery at Yellareddypet in Rajanna Sircilla district in April this year, a case that remains unsolved.

Police suspect the involvement of a robbery gang from neighbouring Maharashtra based on the modus operandi. Multiple teams have been constituted to identify and nab the suspects, and investigators are examining CCTV footage from cameras near the burgled ATMs for clues to trace the vehicle used in the heists.