the goan I network
MARGAO
A gang of burglars, specialized in ATM machine lifting struck rich in Aquem-Baixo village on the outskirts of Margao on Thursday night.
In a first such case in the jurisdiction of Margao police station, the burglars successfully made good with the ATM of Ratnakar Bank containing cash of Rs 7.62 lakh on Thursday night from the open ATM booth house in Shop No 1, Niklissa Haven, Aquem Baixo.
The burglary came to light on Friday morning after the Mumbai office of the Bank noticed that the ATM was available offline. When an officer of the bank looking after the ATM services reached the shop, to his shock and horror he found the ATM machine had gone missing from the shop.
A complaint to this effect was lodged by Pundalik Bhanudas Pednekar, Executive Field Officer of CMS (Cash Management System) looking after the installation, maintenance and replenishment of cash of RBL ATMs.
The cash amounting to Rs 7.62 lakh was in the denomination of Rs 500 x1518 nos and 100 x 30. The incident is believed to have occurred between 3.30 pm on Thursday and 11 am on Friday, it was stated in the complaint.
Margao police station in-charge, PI Kapil Nayak said the ATM booth was not manned by any security personnel.
“The Margao police had only a couple of months ago issued an advisory to all the banks operating in the city to engage the services of security personnel to man the ATM machines,” PI Kapil said, while lamenting that the Ratnakar Bank had failed to pay heed to the advisory.
To another question, PI Kapil said, though the ATM booth was under the CCTV surveillance, the burglars seem to have concealed the camera lens with adhesive tape.
Given that the ATM must be weighing around 450 kilograms, a minimum of four miscreants must have been involved in the crime before lifting the ATM machine in a vehicle. “Though the CCTV camera was covered with an adhesive tape, we are still trying to obtain details through the footage,” PI Kapil added.
