Balasore: Unknown criminals broke open two ATM kiosks at Sunahat and ITI Square and decamped with about Rs 37 lakh cash in the town on Friday night.

The inspectors in charge of Town police station and Sahadevkhunta police station are investigating the cases of burglary. A scientific team, along with sniffer dogs, was pressed into the operation.

Both the ATM kiosks belong to the State Bank of India.

Cash worth over Rs 26 lakh has been looted from the ATM at Sunahat, while from the ATM counter at ITI Square the looted amount is around Rs 10 lakh. The police said both the crimes had been commissioned by an organised gang, and in both the cases, the criminals had neatly cut the ATM cash chambers. They have used mini gas-cutter for separating the cash trays.

A component of the broken ATM was found in a drain at Sunahat, around 1km from the ATM counter. The police suspect that the criminals have first committed the burglary at Sunahat and then at ITI Square.

Sahadevkhunta police station inspector-in-charge Jayanta Behera said the police received information from Mumbai head office of the ATM that tampering was going on in an ATM kiosk at ITI Square around 4am.

The CCTV footage recovered from the kiosk at ITI Square shows that the criminals were in mask. The gang members belong to other states, suspect the police. However, the video footage of the Sunahat ATM counter has not been recovered.