Bengaluru police arrested a 24-year-old cash custodian after he coolly disappeared with Rs. 52 lakh that was meant to replenish an ATM kiosk in Marthahalli.
Paramesh, a resident of Goraguntepalya in the city worked for a private cash management company that had taken up a contract to fill up ATMs of banks including ICICI Bank and State Bank of India.
Paramesh took Rs. 52 lakh to load the ICICI ATM near Thulasi Chitra Mandira in Marthahalli but found that the ATM was not in working condition. Instead of returning the money, he took it home with him and did not report to work that day.
He returned to work the next day and did not report the incident to his superiors who believed he had filled the ATM kiosk with Rs. 52 lakh.
Later, the company received a call from the bank asking it not to replenish the ATM in Marthahalli. The company that was under the impression that Paramesh had filled the ATM, merely asked him to unload the ATM and bring the cash back.
At this point, the cash custodian decided to make a run for it and disappeared without returning the money.
The company staff wary of a possible theft checked the ATM machine and found it to be empty. The staff then lodged a complaint with Marathahalli police.
Marthahalli police took the help of one of Paramesh's relatives who is a sub-inspector with the Karnataka State Reserved Police (KSRP) to track Paramesh down in Somwarpet in Kodagu district, his native place.
On March 26, after setting up a meeting with him in the pretense of discussing a family issue, Paramesh was arrested when he showed up. Police also recovered the stolen money which was hidden in his cowshed apart from Rs. 50,000 that Paramesh had already spent.
"The accused has confessed of his crime and we have recovered the money except for around Rs. 50,000 that the accused had already spent," said Somesh KG, a police officer at Marthahalli police station confirming the incident.