District Magistrate K K Yadav said, "Under section 144 of CrPC all the banks have been asked to recruit security guards at their ATMs."
The branch manager will be held responsible for ATM thefts in future, if the banks fail to follow the instruction, he added.
Yadav further said that the banks have been asked not to open any ATM without authorisation from district administration.
In last fortnight about Rs 15 lakh have been looted from the ATMs of Punjab National Bank and the State Bank of India.