Thrissur (Kerala) | An unidentified gang targeted three ATMs in this district and looted around Rs 70 lakh in the early hours of Friday, police said.

The incident came to light when the police were alerted by the ATMs' central control room.

The gang targeted the Mapranam, Thrissur East, and Kolazhy ATMs of the State Bank of India, police said.

"The incident happened between 2 am and 4 am. One is in the rural police limit, while the other two were in the city police limit. They destroyed the CCTV cameras and used a gas cutter to cut the ATM machine," City Police Commissioner R Elango told the media.

Police have received some evidence in connection with the gang and have started an investigation into neighbouring Tamil Nadu also.

According to the police, the gang first reached the ATM at Mapranam and looted around Rs 35 lakh from there. Then they travelled to the city and targeted the SBI ATM at Shornur Road and took around Rs 9.5 lakh. The last ATM they hit was the Kolazhy branch of SBI, from where they looted around Rs 25 lakh, police said.

Police have initiated an investigation into the incident.