Security guard unlocks ATM vault, flees with Rs 11.76 lakh

CCTV footage led police to suspect; cash recovered

 A security guard who stole money from an ATM using the secret vault open code is now cooling his heels behind the bars.

The Bangalore South Police have recovered Rs 11.76 lakh, the entire booty, stashed away in the house of the stealer.

The money had gone missing from a ICICI Bank ATM on Katriguppe Road, two days after Rs 14 lakh was deposited in the kiosk.

There were neither signs of a forced entry nor the withdrawals were backed by transaction slips. The money in the vault had just vanished with locks intact. The bank authorities lodged a complaint.

After an investigation, the police concluded that the heist was the handiwork of someone who knew the secret codes of the vault. They soon picked up Shivaraj, 28, a resident of Srinivas Nagar and a security guard with ISS SDB Security Services Private Limited.

The ICICI Bank has outsourced its ATM operations to a private company, Writer Safeguard Pvt Ltd, which in turn had entrusted the security of the money-transporting vehicles to ISS SDB Security Services.

Shivaraj accompanied the officials of Writer Safeguard while filling money to the ATMs and on one such trip he noted down the secret code to open the vault of a particular ATM.

The day on which Rs 14 lakh was deposited in the ATM, Shivaraj went to the kiosk late in the evening, opened the vault of the machine and made away with Rs 11,76,500.
Police sources said there was security breach at two levels.

First - Shivaraj, a security staff was not expected to handle the ATM machine and second - the ATM in question had no security guard. It was only the CCTV footage that led the police to the culprit.

“After the recent RT Nagar ATM robbery we have been insisting the security companies to verify the antecedents of the people they employ. Moreover, an ATM counter left unguarded invites trouble.

We request all the bank facilities to provide their counters with proper security. We can’t be held responsible for the lapses of these establishments,” said T Suneel Kumar, Additional Commissioner (Law and Order), Bangalore City police.

Man found dead

A 29-year-old youth was found dead on the railway tracks at Deepanjali Nagar on Tuesday.

The deceased has been identified as T B Harish, a resident of Andrahalli. Police suspect the death to be a case of suicide. The body was shifted to Bowring Hospital.
House burgled

Gold and silver articles worth about Rs nine lakh were burgled from a locked house in Hebbal in broad daylight on Monday.

Manjunath and his wife, residents of Kempanna Layout, Hebbal had left for work in the morning and when the couple returned home in the evening found the main door lock open.

Hebbal police have registered a case.