Banks better beware because homemade bombs are being used in ATM robberies.
It was reported that a group of thieves (believed to have more than 2 suspects) managed to take away RM70,000 worth of cash by blowing up an automated teller machine (ATM) in the small town of Membakut (about 100km away from Kota Kinabalu), Sabah at 2:10am on Wednesday (11th May).
According to The Star and NST, the robbers used homemade explosive devices and crowbars to forcefully open the ATM before escaping in a 4-wheel drive with the money.
The bank’s security guard shift is only till 5pm, and they did not hire security guard services for overnight shifts.
District police chief Deputy Superintendent Azmir Abdul Razak confirmed the incident and said the police are currently conducting a thorough investigation and are looking through the CCTV to identify the suspects.
“Only one machine was blown up and we are looking at the closed circuit television footage,” said the police chief.
In other recent reports, a similar case happened in Karak, Pahang where another group of robbers made a failed attempt to use homemade bombs to blast open an ATM last Wednesday (4th May).
Sources: The Star, NST, AsiaOne.
