HUBBALLI: Thieves struck an ATM in the central part of Hubballi and made away with Rs 18 lakh on Saturday. The thieves pulled down the shutters of the ATM kiosk from inside and opened the cash vending machine using gas cutters.
Many customers who came to the ATM returned seeing the shutters down. The incident took place in the State Bank of India (SBI) ATM kiosk at Deshpande Nagar, one of the busiest areas in Hubballi.
The police said the crime was committed by a gang of three men. However, there are no eyewitnesses. The incident came to light on Saturday evening when the cash depositing van went to the ATM. The staff in the van found the shutters down, but not locked. They rolled up the shutters and saw the ATM machine open.
Police Commissioner M N Nagaraj said the CCTV footage from the ATM kiosk is being examined.
“A team of SBI from Bengaluru will arrive here to help decode the camera recordings. The camera inside the kiosk has not been damaged, but the storage unit has been taken out. The ATM had no security guard despite direction given to the banks to employee guards at all its ATMs,” the commissioner said.
It’s still not clear whether the police will get any clue from the CCTV footage as the gang had pasted a sticker on the camera on the ATM machine. The police are checking footage of other cameras as well, he said.
“There is a footage of three men entering the kiosk. The incident could have occurred on Friday late night,” said an investigating officer. The suburban police have registered a case.
In 2016, a similar incident was reported in old Hubballi where the thieves had made away with `18 lakh. They were later nabbed by the police.