ATM robbers on the prowl, another theft in Jalandhar

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 6

A week after miscreants led by a woman robber uprooted an ATM containing Rs4.46 lakh at Sarhali village, the robbers struck at a nearby village late last night.

They looted a State Bank of India’s ATM at Jandiala Manjhki village, 25 km from here. Both villages fall under the jurisdiction of the Sadar police.

The robbers took half-an-hour to break open the two main shutter locks and uproot the ATM.

They sprayed a black paint on an inbuilt camera on the machine and reportedly tied the ATM with a heavy iron chain and uprooted it by tying the other end to a vehicle.

The police, who are still groping in the dark over the previous incident, face another daunting task to solve the robbery case.

The miscreants after uprooting the ATM reportedly loaded it in a vehicle and fled. After taking out Rs9.98 lakh cash from the machine, they dumped the ATM at Dherian village, 8 km from the site.

In the earlier ATM loot case on September 26, the robbers had dumped the ATM on the outskirts of Ferozepur.

The development has not only exposed chinks in the police security it also raised questions over the arrangements made by the banks to safeguard ATMs. The ATM had only one inbuilt camera that too was blackened by the robbers while no CCTV camera was installed in the kiosk.

A CCTV footage taken from a scrap dealer’s shop located opposite the ATM booth showed a silver coloured Innova car halted near the ATM at 1.28 am. It was followed by a black coloured Scorpio. At 2.05 am, both vehicles reportedly moved towards Phagwara.

A farmer found the ATM lying in his fields at 6 am, following which he informed the police.

Sandeep Kumar, DCP, said it seemed that robbers who uprooted the PNB ATM at Sarhali village were behind the theft.