Rachakonda police commissioner Sudheer Babu addressing a press conference held on Wednesday (March 26, 2025).
| Photo Credit: By Arrangement
A gang of seven individuals were arrested in connection to the theft at State Bank of India’s (SBI) ATM in Ravirala, where nearly ₹30 lakh was stolen in the early hours of March 2, 2025. The gang, primarily comprising construction equipment operators and mechanics from Rajasthan and Haryana, had planned and executed the heist using gas cutters to break open the ATM’s cash chest.
The accused were identified as 25-year-old Rahul Khan, 28-year-old Musthakeem Khan, 25-year-old Sharukh Basir Khan, 18-year-old Waheed Khan, 24-year-old Shakeel Khan and 28-year-old Mohammed Sarfaraj. Four more suspects—Subdin Khan, Rafeeq Khan, Jahul Baddan Khan and Parvez alias Mannan —still remiain at large.
The issue came to light after a complaint by Korra Sreevani, deputy manager at SBI’s Ravirala branch, on March 2 in which she stated that the ATM CCTV cameras were disabled and ₹29,69,900 was missing.
The breakthrough in investigation
A special task force was formed that used technical surveillance, intelligence gathering, and previous crime records to identify and track the offenders. The breakthrough came when their vehicle was spotted on CCTV entering Hyderabad on March 24. The police arrested them on March 25 while they were scouting locations for another ATM heist in Kongara Kalan.
The police recovered ₹4 lakh in cash, a car, gas cutters, an oxygen cylinder, and other tools from the gang, with the total seized property valued at ₹9.5 lakh.
The police said the accused learnt techniques to break into ATMs by watching YouTube videos and meticulously planned their crimes, including reconnaissance of ATM locations, purchase of tools, and altering vehicle number plates to evade detection.
Between February 28 and March 1, the gang procured various tools from a shop in Patancheru, paying ₹8,300 via QR code. On March 1, 2025, at 6:00 PM, accused Musthakheem, Sharukh, Subdeen Khan, and Rafeeq arrived in Hyderabad from Delhi by flight and were sheltered by Sarfaraj. Rahul and Waheeb altered their car’s identity before meeting the group and on around 2 a.m. They disabled the ATM room’s CCTV cameras by spraying black paint, cut open the ATM cash chest using a gas cutter and looted ₹29.69 lakh. On their way back, they attempted theft at SBI ATM in Madhuban Colony of Mailardevpally but fled due to a fire.
Rahul Khan and Musthakeem Khan had previously been arrested for similar crimes in Telangana and Odisha but had resumed their activities after release. Efforts were underway to trace the remaining accused.
Published – March 26, 2025 02:12 PM is
