Taking advantage of a loophole in the technology, a gang has stolen Rs 48 lakh from various cash deposit machines (CDM) of the State Bank of India (SBI) in Tamil Nadu.

This development has compelled SBI to halt the facility to withdraw cash from these machines across the country as a preventive measure.

The CDMs provide a 20-second window to customers to take cash away, and if it was not done, the money would go back into the machines.

Probe indicated that the suspects first took the cash from the machines (using withdrawal option in such devices) and then prevented the lid from getting closed for a while by using their hands, reports The Economic Times.

This action made sensors misread it for "cash not being taken away" by customers and sent messages to servers that cash has not been withdrawn.

"This will not happen again. There was a flaw and this has been blocked (by bank) and such a thing cannot happen by (mis) using that flaw. In the past about one week, similar incidents have been reported from other states as well," Police Commissioner Shankar Jiwal said.

"Public have not lost money. It is the loss of the bank. Such crimes seem to have happened across the country lately but there is no specific information," SBI's Chief General Manager Radhakrishnan said.