After taking cybercrime course, man uses training to loot ATM in Hyderabad; arrested

The accused was identified as Vadde Katamaiah, a resident of Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh.

A man from Andhra Pradesh who travelled to Hyderabad to attend a cybercrime course was arrested for stealing cash from ATMs using techniques he allegedly learned during the training, NDTV reported.

The Miyapur police, under the Cyberabad commissionerate, caught the accused red-handed late Sunday night while he was stealing money from an ATM. The arrest followed a Dial 100 call received by the police.

“Police rushed to the spot immediately after receiving the call and caught the accused while he was in the act of stealing cash from an ATM,” Miyapur ACP Y Srinivas Kumar was quoted by the news channel as saying.

The accused was identified as Vadde Katamaiah, a resident of Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh. He had come to Hyderabad to undergo cybercrime-related training, during which he learned technical methods used in ATM operations.

According to the police, Katamaiah studied the technical features of ATMs belonging to specific companies and misused that knowledge to commit thefts. He allegedly placed a technical device inside the ATM that blocked cash from being dispensed when customers attempted to withdraw money.

“When customers left assuming the transaction had failed, the accused would remove the device and take the cash,” the ACP added.

Police said another suspect, Ramanjaneyulu, is absconding, and efforts are underway to trace him. Further investigation is being carried out to determine whether the accused was involved in similar incidents elsewhere.