A medical representative who lost his job during the Covid-19-induced lockdown was arrested by a police patrol for allegedly trying to break into multiple ATMs in Salt Lake, police said.

Palash Poddar, 41, a resident of Satgachi, had allegedly targeted at least a couple of ATM kiosks, one in CD block and the other in BB block, in the past few days and had tried to steal cash from the machines, a senior officer of the Bidhannagar Commissionerate said.

He was arrested early on Friday when a police patrol team spotted him moving suspiciously near an ATM counter near the Punjab National Bank island.

According to the officer, Poddar used to move around on a motorcycle and would target ATMs that did not have any security guards. He would first use a black spray paint can to blacken out the cameras installed inside the ATM counter. He then used a cutter machine to cut the front portion of the machine and then attach a chain to the back off the motorcycle and try to yank it off.“His technique however did not work on both occasions and he could not steal any cash from both the machines,” the officer said.

The cops were first alerted by the manager of a nationalised bank in CD block.The ATM counter adjacent to the bank had been damaged and the camera inside had been darkened out by black paint. The manager of the bank lodged a complaint at the Bidhannagar North police station on August 1.

Later a similar alert was received from another bank’s ATM kiosk in neighbouring BB block.“Although the cameras inside both the ATMs had been rendered near useless by the paint we started scanning footage from CCTV cameras installed on the banks’ buildings as well as those around it,” the officer added.

Another investigating officer said that CCTV footage revealed a motorcyclist who had his helmet on would enter the ATMs stay inside for sometime before attaching a chain to his bike and then trying to ride it to yank open the front cover of the machine.

“A few attempts later he would detach the chain and then ride away at high speed,” the officer said.In order to prevent further events the Bidhannagar Commissinerate posted radio flying squad cars near ATMs that were closest to the two that Poddar had targeted.

“On Friday morning we found a motorcyclist with similar build of the man seen in the footage moving around suspiciously. We tried to stop him but the moment he saw the jeep he tried to flee on his bike. We then chased him and caught him,” an officer of the Bidhannagar Commissionerate said.The cops upon searching him found a cutter and a can of spray paint stashed in his motorbike.Poddar has been charged under various sections of the IPC including 379 (theft) among others.He was produced before a Salt Lake court that sent him to a five day police remand.