Criminals looted the ATM kiosk of a nationalised bank at Champasari in the northern part of Siliguri early on Thursday and took away around ₹10 lakh in cash.
This comes close on the heels of another ATM heist last Saturday in neighbouring Jalpaiguri district, when a gang had looted two ATM counters in one kiosk of a nationalised bank at Boulbari of Mainaguri block and decamped with around ₹54 lakh.
On Thursday, the police said “at least three to four” persons robbed an ATM kiosk in Champasari. “Preliminary probe suggests at least three to four persons took away around ₹10 lakh. We have collected CCTV footage and are trying to trace the gang members,” B.C. Thakur, a deputy commissioner of the Siliguri Metropolitan Police, said.
Later in the day, as police officers scanned the CCTV footage, they found four people reached the ATM kiosk, which is in a by-lane of the Champasari Main Road, in a
white car.
They used a gas cutter, broke the vault, took out the money and fled the spot.
As the news spread, Dilip Barman, the councillor of ward 46 of Siliguri Municipal Corporation, under which the area is located, visited the spot.
“We are surprised that such an incident has occurred in our locality. The police should intensify patrolling and arrest the criminals,” said Barman.
Police sources said that as the area is adjacent to NH10, it was easy for the gang to flee through the highway.
Sources said that during the investigation, the police have learned that the gang has dumped the gas cutter, a cylinder and some other items at Gossainpur near Bagdogra, around 8km from the spot.
“We have issued an alert for the police stations near interstate borders and passed information to the police of some neigbouring states. Our officers are working on certain leads and trying to find out whether the gang has any link with the group involved in the loot at Mainaguri,” said a senior police officer.
In the Mainaguri case, four persons from different north Indian states, including a sacked Delhi police constable, said to be the mastermind, were arrested from the Baikunthapur forest area and the police recovered a part of the cash. Search for the fifth person is on with the bulk of the cash.