Burglars steal ₹39.80 lakh from currency chest of ATM
Burglars stole ?39.80 lakh cash from an ATM booth in Lucknow. Despite an emergency alert to the security control room, the security supervisor ignored the alert.
Burglars stole ₹39.80 lakh cash from the currency chest at an ATM booth at Khurdahi Bazaar locality on the busy Sultanpur road under Sushant Golf City police station in Lucknow, said police officials.
They said the incident took place on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.
Despite an emergency alert sent to the security control room of the agency which is managing the ATM booth, the security supervisor ignored the alert, said police officials.
Sharing details about the incident, Lucknow deputy commissioner of police (DCP), South, Vineet Jaiswal said the security staff informed the Sushant Golf City police station at around 1 pm on Tuesday that some unidentified people had broken the currency chest and stolen the cash.
He said during investigation, it was found that the burglars came in a luxury vehicle and parked it on the opposite of the road. They threw ink on the CCTV camera at the ATM before breaking the currency chest.
He said the burglars used the gas cutter to break the currency chest and easily walked away with the cash. He said the alert was generated to the security control room of the agency when the burglars tried to tamper with the ATM machine, and the control room had sent the alert to the local security supervisor through a call to check the issue.
He said the security supervisor, however, remained negligent for several hours and came to know about the theft nearly 10 hours after the incident and then informed the police.
He said the police were investigating the case as well as the lapses by the security staff.
Another police official said primary investigation revealed the burglars had done proper recce of the ATM booth which is located in the centre of Khurdahi Bazaar, but it remains deserted during the night hours. He said the booth is on the highway but it is tough to locate by commuters and it was mostly used by locals to withdraw money. He said the burglars spent enough time inside the booth and one of their associates waited in the parked vehicle.
