BHUBANESWAR: Incidents of ATM loot have seen a steady rise in the state since 2015, if chief minister
Naveen Patnaik's reply in writing to the assembly on Monday is any indication. Responding to Congress MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati's question, Naveen said
Odisha Police have been asked to take steps to prevent
ATM loots and create awareness on safe ways to make banking transactions.
While not a single ATM break-in case was reported in the state in 2014, the offence kept mounting since 2015. While seven ATM break-ins were reported across the state last year, at least eight such cases have already been reported in the first six months of this year. The police could not supply data involving the exact number of registered cases relating to fraudulent withdrawal of cash from accounts of people.
The district superintendents of police have been issued an advisory to sensitise bank customers to the danger of unsafe banking transactions. Actions have been taken whenever allegations of fraudulent withdrawal of cash from accounts of people came to the notice of the police, read Naveen's written reply. It also indicated a drop in cases of bank heists in the state. While 16 bank loot cases were reported in 2016, it came down to 10 in 2017. Sources said only two bank heist cases have been reported in the first six months of 2018.
However, wary of ATM break-ins, the Crime Branch had recently issued a circular to superintendents of police (SPs) and asked them to create a database of criminals. The SPs have also been asked to form armed squads to patrol the ATMs
thrice at night.
CM Naveen Patnaik 
