Pune: Burglars trigger gelatin blast at ATM kiosk, fail to rob cash

The incident took place in Talawade Road area in Pimpri Chinchwad at an ATM kiosk of a nationalised bank around 3.45 am.

“The primary probe suggests that two suspects came on a bike and triggered a blast with the help of gelatin sticks. Some people, who were nearby and were alerted because of the blast, came to the spot and even tried to chase the burglars but they managed to flee. They couldn’t break open the cash box. We have launched a probe based on the leads available,” said inspector Vasant Babar, in-charge of the Chikhali police station.

Pimpri Chinchwad Police are also probing a heist at an ATM kiosk on the Chakan Alandi Road near Pune in the early hours of December 26 last year in which the burglars had triggered a low intensity blast at the cash dispenser and decamped with Rs 16 lakh cash.

Pune City Police are also probing failed attempts to break open three cash dispensers at two kiosks in Kondhwa and Khadki Bazar areas as latest as January 13 and 14 this year.

In July last year, the burglars had triggered a blast using a contraption like an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) to break the dispenser and fled with the cash of around Rs 28 lakh near Chakan. There have also been several instances in which burglars have used ropes and cars to uproot the dispensers or gas cutters to break open the machine and have fled with large sums of cash.

The series of recent burglaries at ATMs, especially those located in the industrial areas in and around Pune, have revealed a pattern of crimes. Most of these heists have taken place in deserted areas during the night. Despite very clear guidelines from the RBI and repeated communication from the police, banks and non-banking entities that manage the ATMs kiosks have failed to put in place adequate security cover, officials have observed.

Taking note of the common aspects like the inadequate security cover at the kiosks, the police have also started charging bank officials for ‘abetting’ these crimes for failing to take necessary measures towards securing these ATMs.

Officials said that directives issued to banks and ATM managing entities are very elaborate. They pertain to alarm systems and them being linked to cell phones of the officials, security cameras and their specifications, deployment of armed security guards, lighting arrangements, location of the kiosks, monitoring of the CCTV footage, construction of the kiosks and so on. In the cases of ATMs that have been targeted, these directives were blatantly flouted, the probe has revealed.