Delhi: Robbers make off with cash from CR Park ATM after holding guard hostage

The ATM belonged to a leading public bank and its officials are yet to ascertain the amount of cash that was stolen

Armed men allegedly assaulted the security guard of an ATM kiosk in south Delhi and held him hostage for more than an hour while they used gas cutters to break open the ATM tray and flee with the cash on Friday morning, the police said.

The officer a robbery case has been registered at the CR Park police station. (Picture for representation only)

The ATM is located in the Masjid Moth Phase 2 market on Outer Ring Road, metres before the Chirag Delhi crossing.

A case has been registered but police are yet to make an arrest till late evening. The ATM belonged to a leading public bank and its officials are yet to ascertain the amount of cash that was stolen, police said.

Deputy commissioner of police (south) Benita Mary Jaikar said the police control room received a distress call from a local who alerted them about the robbery around 6am.

“The caller told us that there were about three to four persons who had arrived there in a car. The police rushed to the spot and the security guard told the officers that the robbers, carrying a pistol and knife, entered the ATM kiosk and broke into machine with the help of a gas cutter before fleeing with the cash. Bank officials are yet to ascertain the cash that was in the tray,” Jaikar said.

Investigating officials said the robbers held the guard hostage for at least an hour, while they cut into the cash tray below the ATM screen.

Police said that preliminary investigation has revealed that the three men entered the kiosk around 4am.

Police are examining CCTV camera footage from the market to identify the suspects.

The robbers striking an ATM in the heart of south Delhi, on an arterial stretch, has prompted the Delhi Police to constitute several teams to arrest the robbers. Although there have been cases of ATM thefts and uprooting of machines in the past, most of these were reported from the outskirts of the city, police said.

In the past two years, police have arrested over a dozen criminal gangs, mainly from the Mewat region of Haryana, for allegedly uprooting ATMs using SUVs and chains.

Police investigations have revealed that the same gangs uprooted machines not just from Delhi but also from states such as Maharashtra and Gujarat.

In Delhi, the gangs mostly targeted machines in poorly lit markets of outer Delhi, the police said, adding that they are checking to see if the present case is also the handiwork of criminal gangs from Mewat or a gang or gangs that have ties with them.