Bihar: ATM gutted after botched robbery bid in Gopalganj

PATNA: An attempt by criminals to break open an automatic teller machine (ATM) of a public sector bank with the help of a gas cutter went horribly wrong when the machine accidentally caught fire. The incident occurred at Koini Bazaar under the Manjhagarh police station area in Gopalganj district around 2am on Sunday.
Bank officials said the ATM contained Rs 43,000 in cash.An FIR was lodged with Manjhagarh police station by the caretaker of the ATM kiosk, Santosh Kumar Yadav, who was informed about the incident by the locals.
Gopalganj sadar SDPO Sanjeev Kumar claimed the criminals tried to cut open the machine with a gas cutter, but fled seeing the police patrolling car. “The gas cutter which they left near the cash dispensing area caught fire. Apart from the machine and cash, the air conditioner installed at the kiosk was also gutted.”
The SDPO said the CCTV camera installed inside the ATM kiosk was lying defunct. “We are scanning the footage of the CCTV cameras installed in the neighbourhood. Some locals have told police that they saw an SUV near the ATM kiosk early in the morning. Efforts are on to identify the criminals involved in the incident and arrest them,” he added.