JOIN USTwo men ransack ATM as their robbery bid fails
Two unidentified men attempted to rob an ICICI Bank ATM kiosk on Doddaballapur Road in the early hours of Sunday by threatening the security guard with an iron rod.
The men aroused the security guard, Krishna Reddy, 55, out of sleep and asked him for beedis. The guard got irritated and told them sternly he didn’t have any beedis.
He asked them to be off. But the duo threatened him with an iron rod and smashed the CCTV camera. They pulled down the shutter and tried to break open the ATM with the rod but in vain. Then out of frustration, they vandalised the kiosk and warned the guard against calling the police. They then went out and pulled down the shutter, confining the guard inside.
Reddy told the police that he stayed inside for a while as he feared for his life. Then he mustered the courage to roll up the shutter and called the police.
The Yelahanka police said they had obtained partial footage of the incident just before the CCTV camera was damaged. According to them, the bank hadn’t installed the burglar alarm inside the kiosk.
Besides, it deployed an old guard who had joined only recently.
All banks must instal burglar alarms inside their ATM kiosks, as per an order passed by the police commissioner in the aftermath of the brutal attack on a woman, Jyothi Uday, at a Corporation Bank ATM in November 2013. A senior police officer said they would seek an explanation from the ICICI Bank authorities why they didn’t instal the burglar alarm. He added that they were trying to retrieve the complete footage of the CCTV camera installed inside the kiosk and hoped to arrest the culprits soon.
ATM damaged
In an unrelated incident, a Union Bank of India ATM kiosk in Nandini Layout was damaged when the security guard’s relative threw stones at him during a personal fight.
The guard, Lakanna, had an uneasy relationship with one of his relatives and would quarrel with him often.
The relative came to the kiosk around 1 am on Sunday and started throwing stones at Lakanna, shattering the windowpanes. By the time Lakanna could retaliate, his relative had fled the spot. Lakanna called the police who have registered a case and are trying to trace the suspect.