Gang of ATM looters busted, 8 held

Amritsar, June 7

With the arrest of eight persons, the Amritsar rural police have busted a gang of ATM looters and recovered over Rs 11 lakh from their possession. While one of them was nabbed yesterday, others were held today.

The arrested suspects were identified as Nitu, Parminder, Sagar and Amrit, alias Nikku, all residents of Khasa, and Talwinder, Sanjiv, Deepak and Mandeep of Majitha. The suspects looted an ATM in the Gharinda area on May 10. On the statement of Prikesh Panju, who works with the Fidelity Information Services, a private company that manages ATMs of various banks, a case was registered in this regard.

He said an SBI bank ATM at Khasa was looted by unknown persons on May 10. The suspects had decamped with over Rs 23 lakh. The incident came to light when the security guard reached the spot the next morning and found the shutters open after which he informed the authorities.

Gaurav Toora, SP, Amritsar rural police, said following investigations, the police arrested Nitu yesterday and his interrogation led to the arrest of the remaining accused. All eight persons were nabbed by the police and they recovered Rs 11. 25 lakh in cash from their possession.

Miscreants broke open ATM, decamp with Rs2.8L

Some unknown persons decamped with Rs 2.80 lakh after breaking open an ATM of Punjab National Bank located in the Partap Bazaar area in the wee hours on Sunday.

The police reached the spot after getting information from the bank authorities. The police found clues about the miscreants and further investigation in the matter was underway.

Arun Kumar, manager of the bank branch, said he received a call at around 6 am that the shutters of ATM was open and locks were broken. He said later, the police were informed and bank staff also reached the spot. He said they were ascertaining that how much cash was available in the ATM.

Chheharta police station SHO Rajwinder Kaur said the investigations were on to identify the suspects. The ATM was broke open with the help of a gas cutter.

Dev Dutt Sharma, ACP (W), said forensic teams reached the spot to collect evidence. He said the police was also analysing the CCTV cameras to get any clue in the incident. The suspects apparently came in a car. He said the bank authorities in the evening informed the police that around Rs 2.80 lakh were looted from the ATM.