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Hours after ₹35-lakh robbery in Ludhiana, 3 execute ₹18 lakh ATM heist
Alert villagers realised that a robbery was underway at the ATM, however by the time they intervened the three men were able to flee
Merely 10 hours after ₹35 lakh was stolen from two employees of a gold trade company, robbers struck at an ATM machine at Bhutta village and decamped with ₹18.38 lakh on Saturday morning.
Cameras captured three men breaking the locks and entering the ATM kiosk. The robbers then proceeded to spray black paint on the cameras and broke open the SBI Bank ATM.
Villagers were alerted to the crime when they heard the robbers in the bank around 3am. Panchayat member Mandeep Singh arrived at the spot with some villagers and gave the robbers who were about to escape in a black car, a chase, but to no avail.
“When the robbers saw us,they sped up their vehicle. We pelted the car with stones in a bid to stop them and their car’s windowpane was broken in the attempt. We immediately alerted the police and bank officials,” he said.
This is the second time the SBI ATM has been targeted. Around one-and-a-half year ago, an unidentified accused had attempted to break open the ATM, but the attempt had been foiled by alert villagers.
The commissioner of police has ordered that at least one security personnel be deputed at all ATMs from 8pm to 6am. In an order issued under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the commissioner had said no ATM would be allowed to be open without a security personnel.
The police chief, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, said, “We have some clues about the whereabouts and identity of the miscreants. The case will be solved soon. Different teams have been formed to ensure their arrest.”
