Hisar: The spate of ATM loots continues in the region, with a gang of criminals taking away the ATM machine of Punjab National Bank (PNB) having Rs 13.89 lakh in it in Loharu town of Bhiwani district in the wee hours on Thursday.
The robbers, suspected to be more than two in number, uprooted the machine by tying it with a vehicle and dragging it outside the kiosk.
This is the fourth incident in a month in the region, indicating that some gang is active which specifically targets ATMs in Bhiwani and Dadri districts.
The police have not been able to solve any of the incidents so far.
The gang of robbers has adopted the same modus operandi to loot ATMs in all incidents, raising a serious question mark on the security of the ATMs.
The robbers came at about 1.40 am at the ATM, located on the Devi Lal Chowk in Loharu town. One of the accused, carrying an iron rod, first smashed two cameras of the CCTVs installed in the ATM to black these out.
The police said it appeared that the accused had tied the machine to a vehicle with a chain and then uprooted it and decamped with the machine. Branch manager Satbir Singh said they had put Rs 20.83 lakh in the ATM yesterday, of which Rs 13.89 was still in it.
On Tuesday, an ATM was looted in Bawani Khera town of Bhiwani district when the accused took away an SBI ATM which had Rs 22 lakh in it.
In Dadri town, the robbers took away an ATM of Axis Bank in a similar fashion which had Rs 39 lakh.
On November 8, an ATM of HDFC Bank had been taken away by robbers in Tosham town of Bhiwani district. The ATM had Rs 17 lakh.
Bhiwani SP Ganga Ram Punia said they were investigating the incidents and had got some clues.
