JEYPORE: At a time when ATM kiosks have become soft target of thieves, the cash chamber of an ATM loaded with money was left open for over 14 hours in Jeypore but not a single note was stolen.
On Thursday evening, money of undisclosed amount (unofficial sources put it at several lakhs of rupees) was kept in the cash chamber of the ATM counter of State Bank of India (SBI) inside the Sampat petrol bunk in the town. But the officials of the company, which was assigned the responsibility by the SBI, left the kiosk without closing the cash chamber.
The chamber remained open throughout the night and it was noticed by a worker of the filling station at around 6 am on Friday. The petrol bunk workers first informed the SBI office about it. But, no SBI staff turned up to close the chamber for a long time.
Subsequently, the filling station workers informed Jeypore police who called up the Chief Manager of SBI, Jeypore Bijoy Nayak to take appropriate action.
After a few hours, the SBI staff locked the cash chamber after counting the money in presence of police. Nayak said SBI has no role in dealing with the ATMs as the work of depositing the cash in them has been outsourced.