NEW DELHI: It's no wonder that south district found the Sunanda Pushkar case difficult to probe. It appears they have also been finding their police stations difficult to protect. In a sensational incident, which may land a lot of Vasant Vihar cops in a soup, sources say that unidentified burglars struck at the ATM installed inside the police station premises and decamped with a huge amount of money.

To add to the police's worries, thieves also targeted a tea shop inside the police station and fled with around Rs 5,000 without cops and the SHO having an inkling.

Recently, two officers of this police station, in whose jurisdiction the Nirbhaya case was probed, were also arrested on charges of rape and molestation.

While sources confirmed the incident, joint commissioner Vivek Gogia heading the Sunanda probe and DCP (south) Prem Nath did not answer TOI's calls.

An officer said that the break-in was not successful as the burglars could not reach the cash box. As a face-saver, police have refrained from lodging an FIR.

The incident took place in the early hours of Monday when most of the staff were in deep sleep. Police got to know about the incident after a cop went to withdraw cash and saw the lower part of the ATM dismantled. The police station was shut down so no one got to know about the incident. However, the problem became serious when the tea stall owner at the station boundary wall complained of theft in his cash box.

Sources suspect a drug addict committed the crime but are not ruling out an insider's role. CCTV footage of the police station and ATM are being analysed. Cops are questioning suspects and all historysheeters of the area have been rounded up. Teams have been unofficially called in and fingerprints lifted.

