ATM thefts: Station house officers told to increase night patrolling, deploy men outside unguarded kiosks

Gurgaon police chief Sandeep Khirwar, who held a meeting to review law and order in the city on Tuesday, ahead of Amit Shah’s rally in Jind and the Jat unrest, made it clear that theft of ATMs would not be tolerated and the SHOs would be held responsible for these crimes

After a series of ATM (automated teller machine) thefts in Gurgaon, where thieves have been decamping with cash and machines with equal impunity, the Gurgaon police commissioner directed the station house officers (SHOs) to increase patrolling in their areas and mobilise their men to secure the kiosks, if the banks have not deployed security guards.

Six ATMs have been stolen in Gurgaon since this year started. Last year, the total number of incidents in the entire year was seven. (HT PHOTO)

Gurgaon police chief Sandeep Khirwar, who held a meeting to review law and order in the city on Tuesday, ahead of Amit Shah’s rally in Jind and the Jat unrest, made it clear that theft of ATMs would not be tolerated and the SHOs would be held responsible for these crimes.

Khirwar told police officers to increase night patrolling in areas where the cash dispensing machines are located. He said in places where no security guard was deployed by the bank, it will now be the SHO’s responsibility to post a police personnel at night to prevent such incidents.

Gurgaon police commissioner Sandeep Khirwar said, “The SHOs have been told to increase patrolling and ensure that a watch is kept at night. A list of the all ATMs will be prepared by respective police stations to identify the vulnerable ones. SHOs will be held responsible if such incidents continue.”

The directions from the commissioner came after a private bank’s ATM was stolen in Manesar on Monday, and later the thieves took away the ATM of Tata India Cash from Begumpur Khatola on Tuesday. Around ₹7 to 8 lakh cash and the machine was stolen in this incident.

With this, the number of ATM thefts in Gurgaon in this year has gone up to six. Last year, seven such thefts took place.

The city, which is grappling with a rise in the number of debit and credit card fraud cases, has been rattled by unabated thefts of ATMs since October last year. Thieves either steal the machine or cut its vault open to decamp with lakh of rupees in cash. The police said that at all places where thefts have taken place no security guard was deployed, and, mostly, the CCTV cameras were also not functioning.

Meanwhile, the city police will also be asking banks to take precaution to ensure safety of these machines. “We are taking up the issue of CCTV cameras and deployment of guards with banks,” Gurgaon police PRO Ravinder Kumar said.