Jamshedpur: Unidentified persons used a gas-cutter to slice open an automated teller machine (ATM) and clean out over Rs 7 lakh near the crowded Shitla Mandir in Sakchi in the small hours of Tuesday.

This is the first time in Jamshedpur that any gang succeeded in taking cash from an ATM by cutting the metal body. Earlier, gangs had tried but not succeeded.

The ATM belongs to State Bank of India with defunct CCTV cameras and no security guard. Despite its location along the main thoroughfare at a prime location, there appears to be no eyewitness between 1am and 2am when the crime was committed as circumstantial evidence suggests.

Sakchi OC Mohan Kumar Sharma confirmed the burglary at the SBI ATM.

"Criminals used a gas-cutter to cut the ATM. We are trying to nab the culprits," the OC said. "Both the CCTV cameras installed at the ATM did not work. Else, we would have got footage of burglars," he said.

He added the burglary had been a neat job and the gang did not leave anything behind.

SBI (Jamshedpur main branch) channel manager Ranjan Gorai and his assistant M. Devgam visited the site. "We estimated losses of over Rs 7 lakh," Gorai, who looks after ATMs across the city, said. He added they came to know about the burglary at 9.15am, when the team, part of the staff that routinely checks the status of all 132 ATMs in the city, reported it.

He added they did not keep a guard as they had insurance cover against loss of money at an ATM but kept quiet when asked why its CCTV cameras were defunct.