Berhampur: Unidentified goons looted more than Rs 15 lakh from State Bank of India ATMs at five different places in the city between late on Monday night and the early hours of Tuesday. They also failed in their attempts to break into one other.

The goons looted Rs 16.85 lakh from six places in Berhampur police district and the cops suspect that one gang was involved in the crimes.

Berhampur superintendent of police Pinak Mishra said preliminary investigations suggest the involvement of inter-state criminals in the loots. "We are looking into every aspect and constituted a special team to investigate the cases," he said.

Police sources said the gangsters struck between 10.30pm on Monday night and 4.20am on Tuesday. "All the ATMs belong to the State Bank of India and was the handiwork one gang," Mishra said.

The goons targeted ATMs at Khodasingi, Ankuli and Lanjipalli in BNPur police limits, Gopalpur Junction in Gopalpur limits, Haldiapadar Square in Golanthara police limits. The final one at Gosaninuagaon Main Road is situate in Gosaninuagaon police limits and barely 200ft from the police station. The goons used gas cutters to break into the ATMs and managed to escape with the loot from all five except the one Gopalpur Junction, where they broke the CCTV camera and the siren, the police said.

There were no security guards at any of these ATM kiosks. The State Bank of India's ATM Channel Manager (Berhampur Region II) Somnath Nanda said three ATMs, including the ones at Ankuli, Gosaninuagaon and Haldiapadar, were managed by two outsourcing agencies.

The goons were unable to loot the ATM at Gopalpur Junction as it was under the Internal Surveillance System, said the bank's chief manager (administration), (Berhampur regional office) Prafulla Kumar Naik.

"This system is very effective. A siren will sound and signals transmitted to the bank's Mumbai office in case of a break-in attempt. The Mumbai office will then inform the local police station and the office of the superintendent of police of the area, and the channel manager to give them a chance to immediately react. It is more secure than a security guard," Naik said.

Gopalpur police station inspector-in-charge Susant Kumar Sahu said he got a call from the bank's Mumbai office about the loot attempt at 2.45 am. However, when he led a team to the spot, the goons fled.