'Shut ATMs without guards'

As the ATM thieves are giving sleepless nights to the City Police, Commissioner B G Jyothi Prakash Mirji has directed the cops to close all unguarded ATMs and those that do not have CCTV cameras.

The police have also issued a directive to banks not to load the ATMs with cash more than necessary and to close the ones, on the outskirts of the city, which have a very few transactions.

“We have started the process of identifying all ATMs in the city which do not have  security guards or CCTV cameras. We are shutting them down. We will let them re-open once the bank authorities follow these security measures,” Joint Commissioner (Crime, East) S Murugan told Express.

The city witnessed a spate of incidents where unguarded ATMs were targeted. The stolen money has run into crores. In two cases, entire ATM units were taken away. The police suspect that a single organised gang is involved in the heists.

Last week, there were two unsuccessful attempts to loot ATMs at Jnanabharathi and Malathahalli police station limits. “It is the duty of the banks to appoint a guard and install a CCTV camera in ATMs, but this is not being followed at most ATMs. It helps the thieves,” Murugan  rued.

Mirji has issued a directive to all police stations to keep diaries in ATMs. The night beat police have to sign these each time they pass by.

Further, the night beat Hoysala and Cheetahs have been directed to do extra rounds in areas with ATMs and on streets with less number of people.