JAJPUR: Unidentified miscreants uprooted an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) from a kiosk of State Bank of India (SBI) at Neulpur Chowk within Dharmasala police limits of Jajpur district late on Wednesday night and fled with it.
The incident came to light on Thursday morning after Anand Sahu, a local trader, found the ATM missing from the kiosk and informed the owner of the house where the counter was located. Sahu had come to open his shop and found the lock of the ATM lying on the ground.
“Like every day, I came to open my grocery shop at around 6.30 am and found the lock lying outside the kiosk. Upon getting closer, I noticed that the cash vending machine was missing from the kiosk. I informed the owner of the building where the kiosk is located,” he said.
After the house owner informed the police, a team at Dharmasala police station led by IIC Rakesh Kumar Tripathy reached the spot and started an investigation. Preliminary inquiry suggests the miscreants might have cut open the machine with a gas cutter and taken it away in a vehicle. There were no security guards at the counter and the incident might have taken place late at night, said police.
Bank officials could not verify the amount loaded into the machine as cash is loaded by a private company. A case has been registered in this connection.