JOIN USATM stolen, nearby CCTV records act
About half a dozen people pulled out an SBI ATM loaded with Rs 8 lakh in north-east Delhi’s Bhajanpura in the wee hours of Sunday.
While the CCTV footage from the ATM too was gone with the machine, footage from a camera installed outside a nearby jewellery shop has given police some clues. However, police said the thieves are yet to be identified and arrested.
The incident took place at Subhash Market in Bhajanpura. The thieves arrived in a tempo, parked it outside and entered the ATM room with their tools. No guard was present at the spot when the theft took place.
The incident came to light on Sunday morning when bank officials arrived there to deposit money in the vending machine. But they found the entire machine missing and only wires strewn inside.
“We were informed of the theft by the bank officials. The ATM’s CCTV footage was lost as the hard disk containing the videos was gone with the machine,” a senior police officer said.
Investigations revealed that the owner of a jewellery shop near the ATM too had installed CCTV cameras outside his business establishment.
This footage gave police details of the crime. The thieves worked between 2.35 am and 3.05 am to take away the money vending machine. While some of them had their faces covered with scarf, the faces of others were available in the footage.
The men could be seen slicing off the base of the machine with a gas cutter. Before they entered the ATM room, they were faced with barking dogs in the neighbourhood, but they silenced them by feeding biscuits to the animals.
After plucking out the machine, they loaded it on the tempo and left.
While police believe the culprits had no idea of the amount of cash in the machine at the time of the theft, bank officials told them that over Rs 8 lakh were inside.
Police said a case under appropriate sections of the Indian Penal Code has been registered and efforts are on to nab the accused.