Burglars bring the roof down with homemade bomb

Burglars fled empty-handed after literally bringing the roof down when they used a homemade bomb to break into nine automated teller machines (ATM), cash deposit machines, cheque deposit machines and cash recycling machines at a bank in Bukit Beruntung here early today.

In the incident at a Public Bank branch, the ceiling of the area where the machines were located collapsed due to the huge impact of the blast, sending the burglars scurrying for safety.

The blast, which the police believe was caused by a homemade bomb placed at the bank's service centre, also shattered the glass partition and left cracks on the wall in the 5am incident.

Damaged were three ATM, two each of a cash deposit machine, cheque deposit machine and cash recycling machine, said Selangor CID deputy chief (intelligence/operations) ACP Rooslan Radzi.

He said the explosion not only badly damaged the machines but also their premises which saw severe cracks and shattered glass which were found on the road, several metres from the bank.

"We believe the burglars had used a home-made bomb in their bid to break into the ATM and other machines at the bank. Nevertheless, they escaped empty-handed.

"We also found another bomb which was placed outside the bank, which was not triggered. Currently, the police forensics and dog units are facilitating investigations.

Rooslan said the police would study footage obtained from the closed-circuit television camera to shed light on the burglars.

Meanwhile, initial police investigations revealed no security guard was stationed at the bank branch.

It is believed this was the first time that burglars had tried to break into the bank since it began operations in 1997.