Lucknow: A group of men uprooted an automated teller machine (ATM) with Rs 30 lakh cash in the middle of the night and fled with it in a pickup van in Agra on Monday, police said.
Agra police commissioner Preetinder Singh said, “Preliminary probe suggests that four to five men arrived in a pickup van around 2.30am-3am on Monday. The ATM was installed adjacent to the State Bank of India (SBI) branch at Kagarole in Agra district.”
“SBI’s Kagarole branch manager said the cash dispenser contained around Rs 30 lakh in it. The special operation group of Agra police, along with a surveillance team, was subsequently activated to trace and nab the accused men,” added Singh.
The Agra police commissioner also inspected the place and shunted out the Kagarole police station incharge, Jasveer Singh Sirohi, to the police lines for “dereliction of duty”.
The branch manager lodged a police complaint on Monday. CCTV footage from nearby areas are being collected, police said.
According to locals, the ATM and the SBI branch is located on a rented block near Kagarole bus stand and there were hardly any police patrols at night or monitoring by senior officials. They said the owner of the building was the first to raise an alarm after he saw the thieves carrying away the ATM.
