Kurnool: Kurnool police on Thursday arrested four persons from Haryana in connection with a failed attempt to rob an ATM at Chinnatekur village in February. Two of the main accused were reportedly involved in multiple ATM thefts across north India, according to SP Vikrant Patil.

Briefing the media at Ved Vyas Auditorium here on Thursday, the SP said that the incident took place in the early hours of February 24 at Bank of Baroda ATM centre on national highway-44 service road. The suspects forcibly opened the ATM shutters with the help of a towing vehicle and tried to drag it out by tying the machine to the vehicle with ropes.

However, their plan was thwarted when local youth noticed the robbery in progress and alerted police. The miscreants abandoned the ATM on roadside and fled in the towing vehicle.

Later, police located the abandoned vehicle near Ullindakonda crossroads on NH-44 and launched an investigation.

Further inquiries revealed that the towing vehicle was stolen from Kurnool city, leading to the registration of an additional case at Kurnool IV Town police station. Investigators analysed CCTV footage from ATM centre and the city to trace suspects’ movements.

According to SP Patil, technical evidence indicated that the accused had travelled towards Bengaluru in a container vehicle. Police tracked down the container company and identified its driver, Showkar Khan, who was instrumental in leading them to other suspects.

Through mobile phone records, three more individuals - Shahid Khan (38), Imran Khan (35), and Jamshad Khan (43) - were identified and subsequently arrested.

All four accused are currently in police custody as further investigation continues.