The Baleswar police claimed to have cracked the loot of two Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in Khaira and Soro areas of the district recently by arresting five members of a criminal gang.
The five criminals, who hail from different areas of Haryana, have been arrested from Bhubaneswar while one more accused is still absconding, said Baeswar SP Sagarika Nath.
Nath said the miscreants had looted Rs 6 lakh to Rs 10 lakh from a Punjab National Bank (PNB) ATM at Mangalpur in Soro and Rs 5 lakh from an Axis Bank ATM at Tudigadia market in Khaira on the wee hours of January 12.
The miscreants looted the cash by cutting open the vending machine with the help of gas cutters. They even bombed the kiosk while looting it.
The SP said that after committing the crime, the miscreants escaped after brandishing pistol to the security personnel at various check points which were activated after the ATM loots. The Mayurbhanj police was also alerted and as a police team was chasing the criminals, they had to abandon the car midway.
From CCTV footage and pieces of evidence from the car, police started an investigation by forming special teams, the SP said.
“The criminal gang belongs to Haryana. Some of them are expert cutters. They used to travel by air, train and road. They used to conduct a recee a day before striking any ATM. The gang is involved in similar ATM loots in Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The car that was abandoned is suspected to be a stole from New Delhi bearing the registration number of Jharkhand,” the SP added.