Maharashtra: Robbers blow up ATM kiosk in Pune, leave behind Rs 10 Lakh

In a strange incident, robbers in Pune blew up an ATM with explosives on Wednesday morning, but left behind a lump of cash, approximately Rs 10 lakh as they “did not have time to collect it”, the police reportedly said in a statement. Separately, a private firm assigned with refilling of the cash in the ATM claimed that over Rs 25 lakh was stolen by the thieves, according to local media reports. The police, however, are yet to ascertain the total amount of cash that may have been stolen as they are still in the process of obtaining the data from the ATM that will depict the balance in the machine at the time of the robbery, since the last transaction. There was no CCTV camera installed within the ATM premises. 

A police officer, on condition of anonymity, told reporters that the explosive was tied to a machine and then used to blow up the ATM kiosk at Pimpri Chinchwad. The robbers may have fled with Rs 30 lakh in cash, the officer said. In an alarming twist to the probe, law enforcement authorities’ investigation pointed to the use of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in the blast. This has roped in Maharashtra Police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad into the ongoing probe.

Following the blast that shook the local residents, the ATM machine split open and was damaged completely. Police cordoned off the area as it arrived on the scene with a sniffer dog. Deputy Commissioner of Police for Pimpri-Chinchwad, Champak Ippar, reportedly said that the unidentified robbers had planted explosives with a motive to blow up the ATM. The explosion sent the doors of the ATM cabin flying and multiple currency notes were strewn all over. A case was first registered at Mahalunge police outpost under Chakan police station.

Miscreants loot Noida ATM; flee with Rs 17 lakh

Earlier, last week, miscreants broke open a bank ATM in Greater Noida's Bilaspur area and fled with around Rs 17 lakh cash, a PTI report confirmed. As the incident was probed by the police, and in-charge of a police outpost was suspended for alleged laxity. "The miscreants struck at the Punjab National Bank's ATM around 3 am, broke it open, and fled with the cash," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Greater Noida) Vishal Pandey told PTI. He continued that multiple police teams, including forensic experts and crime branch officials, were brought into the case investigation to ascertain the identity of the miscreants.