East Champaran Superintendent of Police (SP) Swarn Prabhat on Wednesday suspended an entire patrolling party, including an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI), after a gang of criminals broke open an automated teller machine (ATM) and fled with cash on Tuesday night, police said.
According to police, the incident took place at a kiosk of State Bank of India (SBI) located on the main road under the Raghunathpur police station area. The criminals allegedly used gas cutters to break open the ATM and escaped with a substantial amount of cash.
“During the preliminary investigation, it has come to light that four criminals entered the ATM kiosk and carried out the theft. Around ₹27 lakh was stolen by cutting open the machine with a gas cutter,” said Dhananjay Kumar, Station House Officer (SHO), Raghunathpur.
No arrests have been made so far, police said.
On receiving information about the incident, a police team rushed to the spot and launched a manhunt to trace and apprehend the culprits. CCTV footage from nearby areas is being examined, and forensic teams have been deployed to collect evidence, a police officer said.
Taking swift action, the SP ordered the suspension of all personnel in the patrolling team on duty at the time, citing negligence in preventing the crime.
{{/usCountry}}Taking swift action, the SP ordered the suspension of all personnel in the patrolling team on duty at the time, citing negligence in preventing the crime.
{{/usCountry}}“All members of the patrolling party have been suspended. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has also been constituted to nab the culprits,” the SP said.
The SP further added that the bank’s alarm system was not functioning, and as a result, police did not receive any alert regarding the incident.