Masked men steal ₹1.3 lakh from ATM in Badshahpur

Unidentified thieves stole ₹1.29 lakh from an automated teller machine (ATM) in Badshahpur on Monday night, police said. They added a preliminary probe suggests

Unidentified thieves stole ₹1.29 lakh from an automated teller machine (ATM) in Badshahpur on Monday night, police said. They added a preliminary probe suggests the suspects, who covered their faces with masks, had used a gas cutter to cut open the ATM.

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According to the police, the incident was reported to them Tuesday morning. They said around 10.30 pm on Monday, several masked men entered an ATM kiosk, near a bus stand at Darbaripur crossing, and sprayed some chemical on the CCTV to avoid being identified.

A police officer privy to the investigation, requesting anonymity, said, “No security guard had been stationed at the ATM kiosk. On the complaint of the bank manager, we have registered a case in the matter. It seems a gas cutter was used to cut open the ATM from which a total of ₹1.29 lakh cash has been stolen.”

The police said they were checking footage from CCTV cameras in the vicinity of the kiosk to trace the suspects.

A case was registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code at Badshahpur police station on Tuesday.

This is the third incident of ATMs being targeted in the city after the lockdown restrictions were considerably relaxed last month. Earlier on June 1, thieves had stolen ₹ 42.39 lakh from an ATM in a shopping complex in Sushant Lok. The probe had found that two masked men had entered the ATM kiosk on May 23 and tampered with the machine, eventually decamping with the cash. But the incident was reported a week later when the cash management company noticed a discrepancy during an internal audit. On May 25, masked men had allegedly stolen₹1.5 lakh from an ATM in Sohna.

Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police, (ACP), crime, said, “The crime branch has made several arrests in the past two weeks, including a mastermind of the ‘Advani’ gang, who specialise in stealing money from ATMs. Three crime teams have been tasked with tracing the suspects responsible for Monday’s incident.”