Throwing an open challenge to the police administration, miscreants looted cash from two Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in Balasore’s Khaira and Soro on Wednesday night.
The first incident was reported from Tudigadia market in Khaira where at least six miscreants robbed an Axis bank ATM by cutting open the vending machine with the help of gas cutters. They even bombed the kiosk while robbing it.
The ATM is said to have Rs 20 lakh cash which has been stolen.
A local resident said, “The loot happened at around 2am. There are so many robbers in our area that we do not feel safe even in day time. There is police patrolling in our area but it is insufficient,”
“I heard some sounds last night and some people were speaking in Hindi. I thought some picnickers were creating a commotion at night. But when I looked down my window, I saw a white vehicle and some people trying to break open the ATM. They had weapons in their hands, so I did not dare go outside. I called the police, but the miscreants had already fled by the time the police arrived. They even bombed the kiosk while decamping with the cash,” another local said.
The second loot was reported from a Punjab National Bank (PNB) ATM at Mangalpur in Soro. The miscreants looted cash worth over lakhs from this ATM by cutting it open before fleeing the scene.
The police have launched a probe in both cases. It is suspected that the same group of robbers looted two ATMs one after another.