Two try cutting open ATM in Palam Vihar, give up, flee after 30 minutes

Two men allegedly barged into the ATM kiosk of a private bank in a market in Palam Vihar on Tuesday morning, tried to cut open the machine using a gas cutter for close to half an hour, before eventually giving up and escaping from the spot. The entire sequence of events was caught in the CCTV installed inside the ATM.

Police said they have recovered footage from the CCTV in which the suspects can be seen entering the ATM and trying to tamper with the machine. In the footage, one of the suspects — wearing a cap, a face mask and carrying a backpack — is seen entering the kiosk, closely followed by the second man, whose face is covered with a helmet.

Police said the incident took place at 5.29am on Tuesday and was reported to them in the afternoon. A preliminary probe has revealed that the concerned bank had outsourced the security of the ATM to a third party.

A police officer, privy to the investigations, said, “No security guard had been stationed at the kiosk. The suspects were carrying tools, including a gas cutter, which they tried using to cut open the machine. After about 30 minutes , they abandoned their plan and fled. It seems that they were either amateurs or there was some issue with the gas cutter that they had got. No cash was stolen.”

Police said several teams had been formed to try and trace the two suspects. A case has been registered against the suspects under sections 380 (theft in dwelling house) and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment) of Indian Penal Code at Palam Vihar police station on Wednesday.

Wednesday was the fourth incident of suspects targeting an ATM in the city since the lockdown restrictions were eased in May. Last week, an army officer and his friend were arrested for allegedly stealing Rs 1.29 lakh from an ATM using an electronic cutter on Sohna road in Badshahpur area.