Rourkela, Feb. 8: Police have arrested an engineer from Gaya in Bihar in connection with a cash loot incident from an ATM of State Bank of India at Kuanrmunda of Sundargarh district.

Kundan Kumar Pandey, who was arrested yesterday, has been brought to Rourkela for interrogation. The cops seized cash worth Rs 3.45 lakh from his possession along with a bank deposit receipt for Rs 7.65 lakh. Three other accused involved in the theft that took place on January 19 are absconding.

At least 23 live bullets, a closed-circuit camera, a laptop, a mobile phone, a second-hand Mahindra Xylo SUV with Bihar registration number plate were also seized from him. The cops also located the I-20 car used in the crime.

Led by Pandey, the gang had withdrawn cash worth around Rs 28 lakh from the ATM by stealing the password.

Biramitrapur sub-divisional police officer Pravat Routray said Pandey was the customer support engineer (CSE) of the National Cash Register, a private company hired by the SBI for ATM maintenance. “Pandey and his gang had fixed a closed-circuit camera in the ATM booth to get the password, which they used to open the machine,” said Routray.

Sources said Pandey was the company’s CSE in Gaya and Jahanabad districts. He masterminded the crime and executed it with the help of his accomplices.

A police official said the gang had been involved in four other ATM loot incidents in Odisha and one at Raniganj in Bengal. The investigating officer said the SBI used the same private company’s service for feeding cash into the ATMs, all of which were opened with the same key.

“In every branch, three persons keep three sets of keys. These people include the branch manager, custody officer and the first-level maintenance officer. This makes stealing cash from the ATMs easy,” he said.