Unidentified looters cut the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) of a public sector bank at Ambiki Chhack near the Trimurti Cinema Hall in Jajpur town late on Monday night and decamped with cash of Rs 25 lakh.
The incident came to light on Tuesday after locals found that the vault of the State Bank of India (SBI) ATM was cut with a gas cutter and the cash was missing. Source said bank officials had refilled the ATM on Monday evening.
Receiving information about the loot, a team of the Jajpur Town police reached the spot and began an investigation.
“We suspect that the miscreants took the help of a gas cutter to cut open the machine. Though the ATM kiosk is located in a busy market area, locals did not get any clue about the crime,” said a police official.
Later, senior police officials including SP Charan Singh Meena visited the spot. Locals said this was the first time that such a huge amount of cash was stolen from an ATM in the town. Notably, taking advantage of absence of security guards at the ATMs, miscreants have found the kiosks soft targets across the State.