2 cut open ATM, flee with Rs 10 lakh in Palghar

MUMBAI: Two unidentified men cut open an unguarded ATM machine and escaped with around 10 lakh cash at Kudus in Wada taluka of Palghar district in the wee hours of Thursday.
They are believed to have first tried to break open the shutter of the nationalised bank located on Wada Road in Kudus but then moved to the ATM kiosk located in the adjacent shop.
While one of the suspects, in his late 20s, was caught on a closed circuit television (CCTV) entering the unmanned kiosk before damaging it, the two are caught on the camera placed outside the ATM, entering and leaving the kiosk with the booty.It shows them escape with a white gunny bag containing the cash at around 3.31 am.
As per CCTV images, the men completed the job of cutting open the sole machine and fleeing with the cash in less than 15 minutes. They are believed to have pulled down the shutter of the kiosk while cutting open the machine. Before fleeing too, they pulled down the ATM shutter to keep the theft under wrap till the bank staff reported to work at around 9. 00 am.
According to the images captured on the cameras, the men, wearing full sleeve shirts and pants, arrived outside the bank at around 3.19 am. They have covered their heads with white cloth and faces have pollution masks.
At around 3.21 am, one of the suspects enters the kiosk. He is seen looking for the camera. His face is covered with a pollution mask. He uses his left hand to cover his eyes and with his right hand uses a hammer to break the camera, which he succeeds.
By 3.31 am, the camera shows them pulling out a white gunny bag containing the cash. One of them is seen carrying the gas cutter while the other is seen picking up with great difficulty the bag containing the cash.
Wada inspector Sudam Shinde said that rain is believed to have muffled the sounds of the gas cutter used to open up the machine. A case under IPC section 380 (theft) has been registered against the men.
There has been cases of attempted ATM break-ins where machines are tampered with to rob cash. The use of gas cutter has led the police to investigate if it is the handiwork of professional ATM robbers.