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3 masked men make off with ATM having ₹24 lakh in Ludhiana
Three masked miscreants made off with a State Bank of India (SBI) ATM containing ₹24 lakh from a kiosk in Pakhowal on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.
Three masked miscreants made off with a State Bank of India (SBI) ATM containing ₹24 lakh from a kiosk in Pakhowal on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.
Police said it took the accused just 15 minutes to cut the
kiosk shutter with a gas cutter, uproot the ATM, load it on an unidentified four-wheeler, and escape.
The matter came to light when the ATM guard, Amarjit Singh, reported on duty at 7.30am and informed SBI Pakhowal manager Gurcharan Singh Mohi of Navi Abadi, Akalgarh, who alerted the police.
Ludhiana (rural) senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sandeep Goel, superintendent of police Rajvir Singh, deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Gurbans Singh Bains, Sudhar station house officer (SHO) sub-inspector Jaswinder Singh along with forensic science lab and dog squad reached the spot for investigation.
The police have scanned the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed in the kiosk, which shows the accused striking at 2.40am and cutting open the shutter with a gas cutter. After entering the ATM, the accused pulled the shutter down, uprooted the ATM and fled after loading it in a vehicle they had parked outside at 2.55AM. Police said the accused were wearing gloves.
The SHO said a four-wheeler has been captured in the CCTVs but the number and make of the vehicle is not known. “We have been scanning the CCTVs to identify the vehicle,” he said.
The police are suspecting involvement of bank employees in the crime as the bank manager said they had refilled the ATM with ₹24 lakh on Friday. He said the shutter was closed as there was no guard for the evening shift.
The police are suspecting that the accused came to know about the amount in the ATM from some bank employee as earlier there was only ₹4,600 in the machine.
A case under Sections 457 (lurking house-trespass or house-breaking by night in order to commit offence punishable with imprisonment), 380 (punishment for theft) and 427 (mischief causing damage
to the amount of fifty rupees) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the accused at the Sudhar police station.
