JOHOR BARU - Daring robbers made off with an automated teller machine from a bank in Taman Desa Cemerlang here by dragging the machine out with a four-wheel drive.
The incident occurred between midnight and 1am yesterday and it is believed that the robbers had been planning the heist for days.
"Some staff members noticed that a car was parked outside the bank for a few days prior to the incident.
"It is likely that the robbers had been staking out the bank for several days to determine the best time to steal the machine," said a source.
A bank staff, who declined to be named, said the robbers had allegedly driven the 4WD vehicle right to the bank entrance and dragged the machine by fastening it with a chain tied to the vehicle.
"We have two ATMs and three other machines for cheque deposits and cash deposits," he said, adding that the thieves had aimed the ATM believed to contain more money.
The bank, however, has yet to determine how much money was in the ATM when it was carted away.
Checks by The Star showed that there were drag marks outside the bank and some of the tiles outside the building were cracked.
Policemen were also seen questioning the staff but the bank remained opened.
Seri Alam OCPD Supt Roslan Zainuddin confirmed the case and said that police had yet to make any arrests.
"The case has been classified under Section 457 of the Penal Code for burglary," he said.
It is believed that police are also investigating if the incident is linked to a robbery attempt at a bank in Taman Daya here at around 4am on Wednesday.
During the incident, a group of thieves had tried to drag out an ATM using a vehicle but abandoned their plans when the alarm went off.
Some of the pictures of the attempted theft had also been uploaded on Facebook.
Those with information on any of the cases are urged to contact the Johor police hotline at 07-2212 999 or visit the nearest police station.
