Bangalore:
A day after announcing a cash reward of one lakh rupees for information on the man who attacked a woman with a machete at an ATM booth in Bangalore on Tuesday, the city police is now putting up his pictures, retrieved from security camera footage, at public places in the city.
The attacker, who has still not been identified, continues to be at large for three days now despite four minutes of the CCTV footage that captured him striking the 44-year-old on her skull.
Eight special teams have been formed to nab the attacker. Of these, seven are spread across Karnataka and one is stay put at Hindupur in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district, about 100 kms from Bangalore. The police team in Hindupur is investigating on the lead that the assailant sold the woman's mobile handset to a shopkeeper here. The attacker's posters have also been put up at several places in Hindupur.
Yesterday, the police had detained a man in Hindupur who reportedly resembled the attacker, but released him after questioning.
The CCTV footage shows the attack at an unguarded ATM booth lasted for nearly four minutes. After entering the ATM kiosk, the attacker pulled its shutters down and then threatened the woman with a fake gun. When she refused to hand over money to him, he pulled out a machete and hit her four times on her head. He then left the booth. Three hours later, school children noticed blood trickling onto the road and alerted the traffic police.
The victim, Jyothi Uday, is recovering at a private hospital in Bangalore from the severe injuries she suffered on her head, face and nose.
In the wake of the brutal attack, the Bangalore Police has asked all banks in the city to provide round-the-clock security at their ATMs by November 24.