Jagatsinghpur: Unidentified criminals broke open the chest of an ATM kiosk of a nationalised bank here and decamped with Rs 12 lakh in cash late on Friday night.

The incident took place at Mulasingh village market in Tirtol police limits.

"The unguarded Indian Overseas Bank ATM kiosk is and located at a deserted spot," said Tirtol police station inspector Balaram Nayak.

"The goons broke open the ATM chest after midnight, possibly using gas cutters, to open the chests. They vandalised the ATM and CCTV cameras," the police said.

Bank staff members had re-filled the ATM with Rs 17 lakh on Friday. Of that, Rs 5 lakh had been withdrawn. The goons decamped with the rest of the cash.

"We have pressed our scientific team into service to expedite the investigation," said the police.

The police also said it was the handiwork of professional criminals.

"We are virtually clueless and have very little hope of cracking the case as the goons had damaged the CCTV camera. We have requested the bank officials to depute a team of technical experts to verify if the damaged camera could throw some light on the crime," Nayak said.

"They have been told to retrieve data and visual footage from the camera."

In another similar case at Barbil in Keonjhar district last month, the thieves had set the CCTV camera on fire. However, the bank's technical experts managed to retrieve the footage and data that helped the cops nab the culprits, the police said.

Woman killed

A woman, 35, died at Kanhia village in Balikuda police limits of Jagatsinghpur district after being mowed down by a tractor. The deceased has been identified as Sabita Das. The tractor was seized and its driver arrested, police said.