BETTIAH, April 30 -- East Champaran Superintendent of Police (SP) Swarn Prabhat on Wednesday suspended an entire patrolling party, including an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI), after a gang of criminals broke open an automated teller machine (ATM) and fled with cash on Tuesday night, police said.

According to police, the incident took place at a kiosk of State Bank of India (SBI) located on the main road under the Raghunathpur police station area. The criminals allegedly used gas cutters to break open the ATM and escaped with a substantial amount of cash.

"During the preliminary investigation, it has come to light that four criminals entered the ATM kiosk and carried out the theft. Around Rs.27 lakh was stolen by cutting open the machine ...