ROBBERS FAIL IN BID TO FLEE WITH ATM

KOTA KINABALU : Robbers who attempted to cart away an ATM machine at a Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) outlet in Alam Mesra fled empty handed early Sunday when the alarm went off.

City Police Chief ACP Jauteh Dikun, who confirmed the incident, said some five suspects were believed to have been involved in the 3.50am robbery. It was raining heavily at the time.

Believed to be wearing masks, they broke the glass pane wall using a hard object. They then tied a rope around one of three ATM machines inside the bank outlet.

However, when the robbers pulled the rope using a double-cabin 4x4 vehicle, the machine got stuck onto one of the cash-dispensing machine, which caused the alarm to go off.

There were two CCTV cameras inside the premises that recorded the entire episode. The robbers fled the scene after an unsuccessful attempt to cart the ATM machines away.

According Dikun, auxiliary police patrolling in Asia City responded to the alarm together with an MPV police patrol. The bank's alarm is connected to the Karamunsing police station. Dikun was also at the scene.

Robbers breaking into or carting away ATMs happened several times in various parts of the peninsula lately, including outside the entrance of Politeknik Sultan Idris Shah, in Sabak Bernam, Sunday.

Sabak Bernam police chief Supt Noor Mushar Mohamad said the masked men fled the scene empty handed after they failed to crack the ATM's cash compartment about 3am.

"The gang failed to weld open the ATM and fled the scene with their tools," he said.

The suspects wore dark clothing and had stormed into the polytechnic's security booth, which was about 10 metres from the ATM. (DE)