An attempt to break into an ATM of Federal Bank on Pattimattom Road in Kizhakkambalam town was reported in the early hours of Friday.
The attempt, which was reportedly made at 3.05 a.m., was detected shortly by the central command centre of the bank thanks to CCTV footage. The footage shows a masked man clad in jeans and T-shirt tinkering with the ATM machine, which had nearly ₹7 lakh, using an iron rod that was recovered from the spot later.
“The man who appears to be in his thirties put up two flex boards before his entry into the counter as a cover for his act. Though he was able to break the front door of the ATM compartment, he could not go beyond that,” said V.T. Shajan, Station House Officer, Kunnathunadu.
He added that the command centre had initially received live footage of a man moving with a flex board at which point it lost network connectivity. By the time the network was restored, the attempt was already over, Mr. Shajan said.
The command centre initially alerted the Ambalamedu police station but was diverted to the Kunnathunadu station as the ATM concerned was located within the limits of the latter.
In a release, the bank said the attempt, which did not inflict any loss, could be thwarted with the aid of the bank’s remote monitoring system and quick response by the police. “Even before the burglar could manage to open the vault of the ATM machine, the remote real-time monitoring system, which is enabled at the ATM and connected to the surveillance team located at the central command centre, activated warning announcement at the ATM and sent alert to the local police,” the release said.
“We were alerted around 3.45 a.m. and immediately, a police patrolling team, which was in the vicinity, reached the spot. In fact, the patrolling team had signed the logbook kept at the same ATM just an hour before the attempt,” said Mr. Shajan.
Dog squad and fingerprint experts examined the crime scene. “We are collecting CCTV foortage from the locality, while fingerprints will be run for a potential match in our data base. The iron rod used was a new one, and we will try to find out from where it was bought,” he added.
The police registered a case invoking IPC Sections 380 (theft in dwelling house etc.) and 461 (dishonestly breaking open receptacle containing property).
