Police on Sunday busted a gang, which had committed a series of ATM loots in several locations in the district, and arrested four persons including the racket’s mastermind Ajay Mohanty (26) of the Kuruda-Soro area.
The other arrestees were Bhaskar Mahalik (45) of Talapada under the Khantapara police station, Prasant Das (30) of Nuapur, Khantapara and Dipak Dubey (26) of Jaffran in Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh.
The police seized cash of about Rs 16 lakh, gas cutters, LPG cylinders, bikes and mobile phones from their possession.
Notably, Bhaskar Mahalik, a habitual offender, had served 10 years’ imprisonment in a murder case.
Baleswar SP B Jugal Kishore said the modus operandi of the racket was being fixed after carrying out recces of the target and operation was carried out in late night. They were using a National Health Mission (NHM) vehicle, privately hired by the department, for committing the offences, he added.
The racket was unearthed after it was traced through an LPG cylinder connection. Notably, the gang had broken six ATM kiosks while in four of cases they looted the cash and in other two cases made abortive attempts between November 2018 and March 2019.