ATM thugs burn fingers and Rs 17 lakh

Two burnt currency notes outside the SBI ATM kiosk in Kanksa.
(Partha Protim Koner)

TT, Burdwan, Jan. 15: Over Rs 17.30 lakh in cash was reduced to ashes when robbers tried to prise open a State Bank of India ATM in Burdwan with a gas cutter, sparking a fire in the machine.

All that was left were two notes of Rs 1,000 and three notes of Rs 500, police said. As the gang had disabled the CCTV camera in the ATM kiosk in Kanksa, they could not be identified.

"The ATM had Rs 17.30 lakh. Almost all of it was destroyed," said G.P. Adhikari, the regional manager of the SBI in Burdwan. A police complaint has been lodged.

A senior SBI official in Calcutta said customers need not worry as money kept in ATMs were always insured.

Sanjib Ghosh, the officer in charge of Kanksa police station, said the gang had entered the ATM around 2am. "Other than five currency notes, the entire amount was gutted. The gang could not take away any money because the ATM caught fire almost immediately after the gas cutter was used," he said.

"Seeing the fire, the gang fled. Before leaving, they pulled down the shutter of the kiosk. So police personnel on night patrol in the area did not suspect anything amiss," Ghosh said.

The crime came to light when residents noticed some burnt notes outside the counter around 7 this morning. The police arrived an hour later and entered the kiosk. The ATM machine, two air-conditioners and the CCTV camera had been destroyed in the fire.

"We have launched a hunt in various places across Burdwan to arrest the gang," officer Ghosh said.

Bankers said the cash storage units are usually located in the lower part of an ATM, below the display panel and keypad. Although it is possible to use gas cutters to crack open the outer shell to access the storage units, the process is risky as it can spark a fire.

According to the bankers, both public and private commercial banks outsource the jobs of cash replenishment and ATM management to agencies.

Late last night, Rs 1.61 lakh was looted from an ATM counter of Punjab National Bank in Burdwan town, 55km from Kanksa. Minutes later, another Rs 13 lakh was stolen from a UCO Bank ATM in the same locality. In both cases, gas cutters were used, the police said.

"We are probing if all three crimes were committed by the same gang," an officer said.