GURUGRAM : Till recently police received reports of robbers uprooting ATM machines to loot cash, but they were in for a surprise on Tuesday when a gang used gunpowder to blow open the front cover of an Oriental Bank of Commerce’s ATM in Nagina, Mewat.Around 3.30am on Tuesday, two masked men entered the ATM booth in Nagina and started thrashing the security guard . They dragged the guard out of the booth and left him there. On noticing the CCTV camera inside the booth, the duo took out a can and sprayed some chemical on the camera. However, this didn’t block the camera view completely and hazy visuals were captured for a few seconds before the accused sprayed more paint on the camera. The accused then used gunpowder to blow the front cover of the machine and decamped with cash.According to police, this is for the first time robbers used gunpowder to blow up an ATM, a technique pioneered by Italian gangsters. “Mostly European gangs have been using gunpowder to blow up ATMs and several videos of the incidents are available on the internet,” an officer said.The ATM of the Oriental Bank of Commerce is housed in a room in Nagina that also has a bed for the security guard. Bank officials told TOI that the ATM was filled with Rs 25 lakh cash a few days ago but they are yet to calculate the exact amount robbed on Tuesday. “The ATM had currency notes of Rs 100, Rs 200, Rs 500 and Rs 2000. Some half-burnt Rs 500 and Rs 2000 notes were found near the machine that must have got damaged in the blast,” a bank official said.“The sound of the blast alerted the residents of the area, who rushed to the spot and then informed the police,” said an officer from Nagina police station.A forensic team from Palwal reached Nagina on Tuesday evening and collected samples for investigation. “We are trying to find out the details of the gunpowder used in the crime and from where managed to get it. The accused took five to 10 minutes to commit the crime,” said Vipin, station house officer of Nagina police station.An FIR was registered under sections 392 (robbery) and 436 (whoever commits mischief by fire or any explosive substance) of the IPC and under relevant sections of the Explosive Act against the unidentified robbers in Nagina police station.It may be noted that gangs from Mewat are expert in stealing money from ATMs and there are several cases of ATM robberies registered in different police stations across Gurugram. “Till now gangs have been uprooting ATMs by tying it to a vehicle, taking the machine to an isolated place, cutting the machine using gas cutters and then stealing the cash before dumping the machine, but now they have graduated to the use of gunpowder that helps them commit robbery within 10 minutes,” an officer said.

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