Another PNB ATM broken into, ₹9 lakh stolen
MOHALI : Two unidentified men broke into an automated teller machine (ATM) of Punjab National Bank (PNB) in Gharuan village of Kharar after sedating barking stray dogs and fled with ₹9 lakh in the early hours of Sunday.
It’s for the third time in a little over a month that a PNB ATM has been targeted.
Police believe the men drove up in a Chevrolet Cruze car at around 2.30am and sedated barking stray dogs at the spot.
They then broke open the ATM with a gas cutter and made off with the cash.
Gharuan station house officer (SHO) Kailash Bhadur said there was no guard at the ATM and the CCTV cameras inside the kiosk were damaged by the miscreants. “We have called an expert to help us scan the images in the camera. We are hopeful of cracking the case soon,” he said.
A case under Sections 380 (theft in dwelling house), 457 (house breaking by night in order to commit offence), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of ₹50) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered at the Gharuan station.
THIRD THEFT AT PNB ATM IN MOHALI
On June 9 this year, five miscreants targeted a PNB branch ATM at Dappar and decamped with the cash dispenser containing ₹16 lakh. On July 2, all five accused were arrested.
On June 17, two armed men fled with ₹4.79 lakh in a daylight robbery at the PNB’S all-women branch in Phase 3A, Mohali. It took the duo just two minutes to orchestrate the crime as they entered the bank during the lunch break at 1.43pm and left by 1.45pm. There was no security guard deputed outside the branch situated on a secluded stretch near Hotel Cama. On July 12, both the miscreants were arrested.