₹12.68 lakh looted from Ghanaur ATM

The accused entered the ATM kiosk situated on the outskirts of the village and managed to break the main cash chest

In a major heist, unidentified thieves decamped with Rs 12.68 lakh from an ATM of the Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) at Chapar village in Ghanaur sub-division on Friday night.

At 12:45am, the accused entered the ATM kiosk situated on the outskirts of the village and managed to break the main cash chest. The closed circuit television (CCTV) installed inside the kiosk recorded them entering, but there was no footage recorded after that.

The burglary came to light when the villager notices main shutter of the kiosk wide-open.

Senior police officials including superintendent of police Harmeet Singh Hundal, DSP KK Panthay and bank officials reached the spot to take stock of the situation.

SSP Patiala, Mandeep Singh Sidhu said, before calling off the day on Friday, bank staff had shut the main shutter of the kiosk. “The accused first broke the shutter and entered the kiosk before switching off the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) of the ATM machine. Then they broke open the cash chest with the help of cutters,” said the SSP.

“From the modus operandi of the crime, that it appeared the miscreants were professionals with knowledge of technicalities,’ said the SSP said, adding “They managed to shut down the inbuilt CCTV cameras in the machine and other cameras installed in the kiosk.”

Police was rummaging CCTV footage of nearby areas to get information related to accused and the vehicle used in the crime, he said.

Meanwhile, despite strict guidelines of the district administration, no security guard was deployed at the ATM. The SSP said that in the monthly meeting with the bank, SHO Ghanaur had specifically recorded it in writing and asked the bank manager to depute a security guard and more CCTV cameras. “The bank failed to pay heed to our suggestions,” the police said.