Four Faridabad ATMs uprooted in two weeks

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, October 2

It seems that ATMs are being targeted by thieves. The police are yet to arrest the thieves who uprooted an ATM in Parvatiya Colony in the NIT here in the wee hours on September 30.

The occurrence of three incidents earlier exposed chinks in security. The police claimed to have launched a probe after taking possession of CCTV footage in connection with the latest incident, but were yet to lay hands on the culprits.

The criminals came in a Mahindra Bolero and took less than 10 minutes to uproot the ATM of HDFC Bank carrying Rs 12.20 lakh. They fled after loading the the vehicle at 2.45 am. The matter came to light in the morning when local residents informed the police.

Police sources admitted that a gang had been active in the city for the past few months and was perhaps involved in three other incidents since September 17.

These ATMs were found damaged in Rajiv Colony on September 17, on the Sohna road on September 25 and on the Dabua-Gazipur road on September 27. All spots were within a radius of 15 km.

An official claimed on the condition of anonymity that the gang could be from the Mewat region. He claimed that uprooting of ATMs using a vehicle had been started after criminals found breaking it time-consuming.

Alert personnel in a police control room vehicle on July 28 foiled taking away of an ATM containing Rs 33 lakh uprooted from Rajiv Colony.

Claiming that banks had failed to ensure security of ATMs, police PRO Sube Singh said the police had been working on clues and were likely to arrest the culprits soon.