ATM Robbery: Thieves arrested. IGP and Police Commissioner announce reward

ATM Robbery: Thieves arrested. IGP and Police Commissioner announce reward

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Dec 15, 2011: Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh informed reporters today that today’s ATM robbery case can be cited as an excellent example of how wrongdoers can be nabbed within a matter of minutes if the public cooperates with the public.

He said that as soon as the thieves fled with the bags of cash, all police control rooms, police jeeps, police posts, and PCR vehicles were alerted. Stating that today’s incident proved the efficiency of the Mangalore Police, Mr. Singh thanked all police officers who participated in the operation.

 

 

 

Revealing further details, he said that the thieves were trying to escape by a KSRTC bus plying from Mangalore to Puttur and were arrested near Kannur Mosque in Adyar. When they saw the police, the thieves tried to escape, but the local people gave chase and helped the police catch them, he said, adding that all those who helped the police nab the ATM thieves will be specially felicitated on Dec 16 Friday.

Mr. Singh also said that the thieves were amateurs since they carried neither weapons nor tools. He also admitted that they had stolen Rs. 25 lakh, not Rs. 32 lakh as initial reported. He said that the thieves had broken the glass of the car and had fled with the iron box containing cash although it was heavy. But they were not able to break the box and access the cash.

The arrested are Shridhar, Murali, Harihar, and Mahindran of TN. Mr. Singh said that the TN police will be alerted and that the thieves will be shifted to TN for interrogation.

The commissioner further said that the DGP has announced a cash reward of Rs. 20,000 for the police personnel who were involved in the case and that the police commissioner will reward them with a further Rs. 10,000.

Raghuram Shetty from the State Bank of India said that the bank will also reward the police offices after first getting the approval of the bank’s high command.

 

Blaming the incident on a security lapse on the part of Pro Interact Agency, which bears the responsibility of feeding cash into ATM machines, he said that the gunman had gone inside the ATM with the person carrying the bag of cash and left the driver alone with the rest of the cash, giving the thieves the opportunity they were seeking. He said that the gunman ought to have stayed with the driver. He also said that the SBI will continue with Pro Interact Agency since they had signed a national-level contract with the company and have been associated from the past five years.

Regarding the incident at Pumpwell during which a policeman had beaten up a bus driver for getting in the way, Mr. Singh made light of the incident and said that it was just a traffic issue that was immediate resolved.

Ravindra Gadadi, ACP Dharmaiah, DCP Venkatesh Prasanna, and others were also present at the press conference, which was held in the commissioner’s office.