Unidentified miscreants looted over Rs 28 lakh from a Punjab National Bank ATM by cutting open the machine in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr in the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, police said.
The miscreants cut open the machine to steal the cash, which was Rs 28.34 lakh. The incident happened at the PNB ATM near Triveni Sabitgarh sugar mill on Sunday.
According to Superintendent of Police (SP) Shivram Singh Yadav, the ATM's regular guard was on leave due to illness and his brother, who is differently-abled, was guarding the ATM for the past few days.
The guard told the police that he pulled down the shutter around midnight and went to sleep at the roadside dhaba. When he came back at 5 am, the ATM had been cut and the cash was missing.
The miscreant used a gas cutter to cut the ATM machine, police said.
Shivram Singh Yadav said, "We got the information about the loot in PNB ATM near Triveni Sabitgarh Sugar Mill. Some unidentified miscreants have used the gas cutter to steal the money."
"The machine was partly burnt and it seems that some cash must have been burnt in the process of cutting open the machine. The investigation is on in this matter and we will crack this case soon" he added.