Bomb damages ATM but thief leaves empty-handed
THE STAR
BALIK PULAU: A homemade bomb exploded and damaged an automated teller machine (ATM) at a bank in Sungai Nibong but the thief escaped empty-handed.
Closed-circuit television camera (CCTV) footage showed a man wearing a helmet, a pair of gloves, and a dark grey jacket entering the ATM area yesterday.
He placed a box on top of the ATM at about 3.45am, and an explosion occurred a few seconds later.
Balik Pulau OCPD Supt Lai Fah Hin said the suspect arrived on a motorcycle which he parked near the bank.
“From our investigations, we found traces of sand at the entrance of the ATM area as well as the kiosk.
“A steel cover of the kiosk was also blown up by what is believed to be a homemade pipe bomb.
“However, the safe which contained cash was not damaged,” he said in a statement.
Supt Lai added that the suspect sped off on his machine empty-handed after the alarm went off.
“We believe he was also the person who tried to break into an ATM at a bank with firecrackers on March 11.
“Only the outer part of the machine was scorched. He escaped in a white car parked outside the bank branch at a shopping complex in Bukit Jambul,” he said.
