Berhampur: Five motorcycle-borne miscreants looted Rs 25.30 lakh at gun-point from the employees of Gorapalli toll plaza near Haridamula Square, 70 kilometres from here on Monday afternoon.

Two employees of the toll plaza - Debanshu Singh and Saibab - were on their way to deposit the cash in a private bank's Khallikote branch in a car when the miscreants intercepted their vehicle coming on two bikes from the opposite direction. They stopped their vehicle at gun-point and decamped with the booty, said a source in the police.

"There was a hump near Haridamula Square and I applied the brake. When the vehicle slowed down, five miscreants came to the front of our vehicle from nowhere all of a sudden," said driver Arif Khan. Singh said: "The miscreants asked me to hand over the bag containing Rs 25.30 lakh. When I refused, they pointed the gun at us and also fired in the air. They snatched the bag and two mobile phones from us and went away."

"Police have found the shell of one empty bullet at the spot. The miscreants have thrown away two mobile phones on the roadside and we have seized both the mobile phones," said Chhatrapur sub-divisional police officer Ramesh Chandra Sethi.

"We have sealed all the exit routes of the area and are checking all the vehicles," said inspector of Khallikote police station Bibekananda Swain.

Sethi said: "We are trying to nab the criminals soon. We are also trying ascertain the involvement of more people in the case."