Hyderabad, January 18: For the first time in the city, an intruder successfully broke an ATM of a national bank at Saidabad and walked away with more than Rs 20 lakh cash. The intruder, armed only with a small screw driver, did not have to toil hard and opened the highly secure ATM within minutes.
The theft took place in the State Bank of Hyderabad ATM at Dhobighat crossroads two days ago. But the incident came to light only on late Sunday night. The intruder’s act was caught in the CCTV installed in the ATM centre which has two machines in it.
According to police, the intruder entered the ATM around 12.25 a.m on January 15. He walked straight to one of the ATMs and opened its outer door with the screw driver.
“The inner door has an electronic lock facility which opens only after the password is pressed. The bank authorities who deposited cash the previous time, did not lock it properly,’’ Madannapet police inspector K Surya Prakash Rao said.
With the electronic door locked improperly, the intruder opened it easily and ran off with more than Rs 20.05 lakh cash. The intruder also tried to open the second ATM but failed. Content with the booty he got, he did not make too many at tempts and left.
In spite of repeated appeals by police, the bank authorities had not deployed a security guard at the bank or the ATM centre. “It was just like placing money on the main road and waiting for someone to pick it up,’’ a police officer said.
Police said the intruder was wearing a monkey cap to protect himself from cold. The intruder was aged around 30 years, police said.
Though the incident took place in the early hours of January 15, it came to light on Sunday night. With Sunday being a holiday, no bank staff had come. Though some customers entered the ATM and withdrew money, they used the second machine.
“The ATM which was robbed did not suffer any external damages which made no one suspicious,’’ police said.
—Agencies