Paradip: Police have arrested five criminals of an inter-district gang of looters.

The criminals, who belong to Ganjam district, used to target people near banks, malls and jewellery shops. All of them are history-sheeters and have committed a series of loots in Berhampur and Bhubaneswar. They fled to Paradip and established their network there after Ganjam district police had launched an orchestrated crackdown on criminals, gunning down one and injuring several others in encounters.

The criminals - Aili Ramu, 30, Maikel Kali, 26, Aul Some, 22, Niranjan Goud, 25, and Rana Pradhan, 25 - were nabbed while they were planning to commit an ATM robbery in port township. Acting on a tip-off, the police intercepted them near Mundasahi slums. Arms have been seized from their possession, said Paradip police station inspector Subsranshu Sekhar Nayak.

The looters snatched Rs 3 lakh cash from one Chandramani Swain near a nationalised bank here on April 3.

The gang members were adept in bike riding. After committing crime, they used to speed away on their bikes. The gang used to shift locations from one place to another to escape detection. After committing cash snatching in Paradip on April 3, they sped away to Aska in Ganjam on their bikes.

However, the criminals have never attacked their victims after snatching cash or jewelleries from them, said the police officer.

The criminals were planning to switch over to skilled crimes such as ATM robbery. They had targeted an ATM kiosk located at an isolated spot on the outskirts of port township, police said.

The arrested were sent to judicial custody on Thursday. "However, we will pray to the court for their remand to crack other crimes, particularly the ATM robbery and snatching cases," he said.