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Bangalore police still clueless about the ATM attacker

Last updated on: November 22, 2013 12:23 IST

Chasing the ATM attacker of Bangalore is becoming nothing short of a nightmare for the city police. It has been nearly three days but there is not a single lead regarding the man who attacked and seriously injured a bank manager inside an ATM counter on Tuesday.

The lack of digital evidence is making the job tougher for the police. After the attack, the accused fled the scene with a mobile phone, two debit and one credit card which belonged to the victim.

Within hours of the attack, he reached Hindupur, which is around 150 kilometres from Bangalore. He sold the mobile phone to a dealer for Rs 500 and then fled that place.

However, the Bangalore police believe that he could still be around Hindupur and a large team is camping over there.

What is unfortunate is that there is no record whatsoever on this man. Bangalore Police Commissioner Raghavendra Auradhkar had said that the attacker did not look like a first time offender.

Police have been checking the rogues’ galleries at the State Crime Records Bureau at Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. However, no information has been found about this man.

Where the Bangalore police are finding trouble is that there is no digital clue to track down this person. Although Rs 1 lakh has been announced for any information on this man, there is a good chance he may have changed his appearance after the attack which makes it difficult for the common man to identify.

At first the police were relying heavily on the mobile phone that he had stolen. They were tracking the number, but for their bad luck he never switched on that cell phone. Only after he had sold it did the dealer switched on the cell. By the time the police got the signal from the cell phone, the attacker had fled the place.

The police, however, picked up the mobile phone dealer. He is still being questioned, but has no information on the attacker.

The second hope is that he may use one of the cards that he had stolen from the lady. Three days have passed, but the man has not used the cards too, which has led the police to a clueless state. The attacker may have well thrown away the cards and may not use them at all due to the fear of getting caught.

Bangalore police officials say that they are doing their best and will get their man soon.

“We are in touch with our counterparts in the neighbouring states as well and are hopeful of getting more leads,” an official said.

Image: The 'wanted' notice put out by the Bangalore police

Vicky Nanjappa