TUMAKURU: A gang of three masked men looted a Karnataka Bank ATM and made away with `21 lakh in the early hours of Tuesday.
They barged into the ATM at Gubbi Gate around 3 am and downed the shutters. They threatened security guard Ganganna at knife point and tied his hands. The trio collected Rs 11.16 lakh in Rs 2,000 denomination notes, Rs 2.8 lakh in Rs 100 and Rs 7.7 lakh in Rs 500 notes and fled in a vehicle.
The gang reportedly opened the cassette (money box) by using the six-digit password and executed their plan with ease. “Since there was no scratch on the machine, the persons who had loaded the machine with the cash on Monday around 4 pm may be involved,” highly placed sources in the police said.
The ATM’s cassettes will have dual electronic keys with as many authorised persons. Without knowing the password, none can open the cassette, they said.
In this case, the persons those who loaded the cash were employees of a private agency and not the bank’s, clarified a senior staff with the Karnataka Bank.
“Those who had loaded the cash into the cassette might have left without locking the same or might have shared the password with an intention to commit the crime. In both cases, those who were entrusted with the loading of the cash were responsible,” observed, a senior bank manager.
Meanwhile, in a swift operation, police picked up Mahesh and Ashwatha, who loaded the machine, besides security guards Ganganna and Raveesh. SP Isha Pant visited the ATM along with other senior police officials on Tuesday.