Villagers foil robbery bid, lock thieves in ATM kiosk

PUNE: Alert residents of Nirvangi village near Indapur on Tuesday foiled an attempt to steal cash from an ATM kiosk by locking four suspects inside the kiosk.
Despite dire threats from the suspects, the villagers waited near the kiosk till the Walchandnagar police reached the spot and arrested Sagar Sawant (22), Sagar Udmale (25), Umaji Khomane (19) and Ganesh Kare (23). One of their accomplices managed to flee but the police seized a van and some sharp weapons from the suspects.
Uttam Bhajnavale, assistant inspector of the Walchandnagar police station, said that around 3.45am, the suspects entered the ATM kiosk of a private finance company on Bavda-Walchandnagar Road."There was no security guard deployed at the ATM kiosk," Bhajnavale said.
As the suspects pulled down the shutter, one of the residents got wary. He notified other residents and they moved towards the kiosk. "Seeing the group coming towards them, one person who was standing outside fled, leaving the others inside the kiosk," Bhajnavale said.
"Showing presence of mind, the residents pulled down the shutter from outside and locked it," Bhajnavale said.
Police rushed to the kiosk, opened the shutter and took the suspects into custody. "They had almost broken the ATM. However, they were not able to remove the cash. There was Rs 50,000 deposited in the ATM," he said.