After 3 years on the run, ATM butcher caught in Andhra Pradesh

BENGALURU: More than three years after a woman bank manager was attacked inside an ATM kiosk at N.R. Square, the Andhra Pradesh police have arrested the 35-year-old attacker.

The accused, Madhukar Reddy, is from Thambalapalle in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. It is learnt that the traffic police in Madanpalle noticed Reddy and picked him up on suspicion that he could be the man behind the ATM attack. After a thorough grilling, Reddy confessed to the crime.

Soon, the Andhra Pradesh police alerted the Bengaluru city police and a police team from the city was rushed to Chittoor for investigation. City Police Commissioner Praveen Sood said that Reddy has indicated his involvement in the ATM attack case. “A city police team has been dispatched to interrogate him and we will take his custody for further investigation,” he said.

It is learnt that apart from the Bengaluru incident, Reddy is involved in more than 10 cases, including four murders in Andhra Pradesh and that he was sentenced to life imprisonment in one of the cases. But, he had managed to escape from police custody.

Sources said, “Just a few days before the incident on Nov 19, 2013, his parents had scolded him for spending all their money. He had left home and had come to Bengaluru just a day before the incident. He had no money and was wandering in Cubbon Park, where he slept the previous night. As he had no money to eat, he decided to commit a theft or robbery. He planned to rob people coming to the ATM kiosk.”

“On Nov. 19, he went to the Corporation Bank ATM at N. R. Square. He checked



whether the shutter for the kiosk could be pulled down. At 7.15 am, Jyothi Uday, then manager of Corporation Bank, entered the kiosk. As soon as she went in, he followed her and rolled down the shutters. He threatened her with a gun-like weapon and attacked her with a machete. He robbed her cash and ATM card,” he said.

“As the footage was broadcast repeatedly on TV channels, he was scared that he would be easily identified. He shaved his head to conceal his identity and went to Ernakulam in Kerala, where he did odd jobs to survive. He stayed there for almost a year before returning to Andhra Pradesh," the officer said.

Now, Bengaluru police are planning to obtain the body warrant from the court concerned to get his custody. Sources said that the city police will take a few days to complete all legal formalities and get his custody.

One of the biggest op.

The state police force had spent several lakhs of rupees on the investigation and close to 500 policemen had worked on the case. Over one lakh phone call details were analysed to get clues. This is the only case in the state in which a large number of policemen were deputed to hunt down the assailant.

Also, policemen from neighbouring states - Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu - were roped in to track the assailant. Earlier, it was only to nab the slain forest brigand Veerappan that the state had formed a Special Task Force, which had several hundreds of policemen.

The anonymity of the attacker was the biggest hurdle in tracking him down. The police submitted a 'C' report to the court about a year ago.