Thieves tow away HDFC ATM with ₹20 lakh in Patna

An eyewitness said the suspects had their faces covered with towels. He alleged that two special auxillary police jawans on a patrol car neither chased them nor opened fire.

PATNA

The incident occurred at Ishapur locality, barely 200 metres from Phulwarisharif police station of Patna town. (HT PHOTO)

Unable to break an HDFC ATM in Patna, thieves uprooted it and fled with the machine on Wednesday/Thursday night, police said.

The incident occurred at Ishapur locality, barely 200 metres from Phulwarisharif police station of Patna town.

Footage obtained by police from a CCTV camera installed in a nearby house shows four to five persons alighting from a vehicle, a Scorpio, around 1.13 am and towing away the ATM at 1.38 am. The accused had destroyed the CCTV cameras inside the ATM, police said, adding that the machine, which worked till 11.17 pm, contained ₹20 lakh in cash.

An eyewitness, Mohammad Arif, said the suspects had their faces covered with towels. He alleged that two special auxillary police jawans on a patrol car neither chased them nor opened fire.

Ashok Mishra, superintendent of police (Patna West), said the bank administration did not inform the police about the incident even though the ATM security system might have raised an alarm on the bank`s internal network following tampering with the machine.

Three suspects were detained for questioning, the SP said.

“We have filed a complaint for theft of ₹20 lakh stolen and considerable damage to the ATM,” said Raju Kumar, regional representative of Finance Software System, which runs the kiosk. He said they were facing difficulties in getting footage of the CCTV camera installed at the kiosk to ascertain the identity of the suspects.