Thieves, who were four or five in numbers cut open an ATM machine of State Bank of India (SBI) in Ichak, Hazaribagh and escaped with Rs 34.16 lakh in the wee hours of Friday. Ichak officer-in-charge Akil Ahmad said that attempts were on to nab the culprits. He said they have received the CCTV footage of the ATM and found the faces of all the criminals covered. Surprisingly, there was no guard at this ATM which made the task easy for criminals.

Sources said criminals had committed this crime with full proof planning. They were even having information about the locality so before committed the crime, they locked the house of one Mubarak Ansari from outside which was near to the ATM.

Sources said criminals entered into the ATM kiosk at around 2 in the morning and used a gas cutter to open it. They collected Rs 34.16 lakh, which was in the machine and escaped easily. Local residents discovered this theft at around 10 in the morning, after which police team led by Ahmad reached there.

The ATM was situated on the ground floor and on the first floor, the SBI bank operates. Police tried to contact bank officials who were away due to second Saturday holiday. But, later they arrived and confirmed theft of Rs 34.16lakh.

Ahmad said that the way the crime was committed shows involvement of some professional gang. He said they were working on this case so as to nab the culprits soon. Two months back, criminals had uninstalled an ATM machine at Katkamsandi block and managed to escape with it but later recovered by police with the cash.