Accused caught by the Tamil Nadu Police (Left) and Container lorry in which the accused tried to escape (Right)
In a scene reminiscent of a Hollywood crime thriller, Tamil Nadu police pursued and arrested seven robbers involved in a hat trick ATM heist, acting on a message from their Kerala counterparts. They recovered a truck containing ₹68 lakhs in cash and a car in the back. The operation had all the elements of a gripping thriller: a high-speed chase, collisions, gunshots, and a crowbar used to assault policemen. Amid the chaos, truck driver Zumadin was killed in the crossfire, and another individual, Azar Ali, was injured. Police arrested five suspects identified as Mohammed Ikram (NuH), Mubarak, Sabbir Khan, Shoukeen, and Irfan from Palwal.
Thrissur police received an alert through SBI’s central monitoring system about a break-in at an ATM in Mapranam. The burglars fled with Rs 33 lakh. The gang then looted Rs 10 lakh from an SBI ATM on Shornur Road in Thrissur and attempted to steal Rs 25 lakh from another SBI ATM in Kolazhy. In all these incidents, the gang managed to escape before the police team arrived. Police reported that the gang disabled the CCTV cameras in the ATMs by spraying them with a black paint-like substance and used gas cutters to open the ATMs, which were located within a few kilometers of each other, after pasting stickers that read “ATM under repair.” Thrissur police sent alerts to their counterparts in Coimbatore, Palakkad, Krishnagiri, and Salem.
TN police received a message about a gang in a white SUV with seven men entering Tamil Nadu after robbing three ATMs. Villagers in Veppadai and Sanyasipatty in Namakkal district were abuzz, eagerly watching the chase and the gunfire, their jaws dropping at the suspects’ actions. The drama began around 2 am on September 27 when the gang looted the first three ATMs. Before entering Tamil Nadu jurisdiction, they transferred the stolen cash and the SUV to a container truck.
When the truck crossed the Walayar check post on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border around 5:30 am, it passed through Coimbatore and Erode districts before heading to Namakkal. Police attempted to stop the truck at 9:45 am between Kumarapalayam and Pallipalayam, but the truck ignored their instructions and sped toward Sankagiri town, entering the Salem-Erode highway near Veppadai. The truck collided with two motorcycles and a car. Nearly 25 police cars pursued the truck for over seven kilometres. Eventually, the truck crashed into a barricade of iron barriers and vehicles lined across the highway.
Salem Range DIG E S Uma stated, “There were three people along with the driver in the cabin. While towing the container to the police station for inquiry, the officers heard sounds from inside and asked Zuman to open the doors, only to find two others and a car inside. The car concealed in the container was used for the ATM robbery. Of the two, Azhar Ali alerted Zuman to flee, and they took off after pushing down the cops. While Zuman died on the spot, Azhar Ali was injured in the leg.”
DIG Uma, accompanied by Namakkal Police Superintendent S Rajesh Kannan, addressed the media after visiting the crime scene. She said, “The duo—Zuman, the deceased, and the injured Azhar Ali—attacked the police with stones while attempting to flee with the cash in a backpack near a rivulet. Azhar, carrying the cash, faltered and fell but ignored warnings to surrender. Inspector Thavamani, along with a Sub-Inspector, opened fire in self-defence.”
She added, “The cash, all in Rs 500 denominations, has not yet been counted, but according to information received from Kerala police, the gang had looted three SBI ATMs, taking Rs 30 lakh, Rs 25 lakh, and Rs 10 lakh, respectively. The gang, hailing from two districts in Haryana, used Google Maps to locate the ATMs.”
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One of the suspects attacked Kumarapalayam Inspector A Thavamani with a crowbar, wounding him on the left side of his chest, while Sub-Inspector Banjith Kumar was injured on his right arm. The police opened fire to stop the two suspects who tried to escape with the loot, resulting in the death of truck driver Zumadin and the injury of Azhar Ali in the leg.
Police stated, “Kerala police can formally arrest the suspects and interrogate them in their custody. The five arrested individuals, along with the seized cash, truck, car, crowbar, and other items, will be handed over to them. Tamil Nadu police suspect that the gang from Haryana may be involved in at least 15 ATM burglaries across South India, primarily targeting SBI. The gang was equipped with weapons and gas welding/cutting equipment. They are also investigating whether the gang was involved in an ATM heist in Krishnagiri on September 21, where Rs. 9 lakh was stolen. Two suspects from Mewat district of Haryana were arrested by the Krishnagiri police.”
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