Khordha: In a major breakthrough, Jankia police have arrested three accused in the sensational ₹11. 55 crore jewellery shop robbery at Jankia in Khordha district and recovered a substantial portion of the looted valuables along with weapons and cash.
The recovery includes around 900 grams of gold, 2.3 kilograms of silver, ₹9.45 lakh in cash, a country-made pistol with live ammunition and a bhujali.
The arrested accused have been identified as Lucky Biswajit Pattanaik (22) of Cuttack, Bulu alias Ashok Senapati (32) of Nayagarh and Chandan Nayak (25) of Khordha. Another accused, Naba Sahu of Khordha, has also been arrested for receiving part of the stolen ornaments. Seven other members of the gang remain at large.
The arrests follow the daring daylight robbery on August 24, when a group of ten miscreants stormed Sai Sonu Alankar jewellery shop at Sarapari under Jankia police limits. The gang arrived on four motorcycles around 2 PM, hurled bombs to create panic and entered the shop armed with pistols, bhujalis and other weapons. They terrorized the staff, looted 11.5 kilograms of gold and 5 kilograms of silver ornaments and fled within minutes. The looted gold and silver is estimated to be valued at Rs 11.55 crore.
In the course of the heist, a local resident, Ranjit Pradhan, who tried to resist them, was attacked with a sword and shot in the abdomen. The robbers escaped by throwing more bombs to cover their retreat.
Police have intensified raids in Khordha, Cuttack, Nayagarh and Puri districts to track down the remaining accused and recover the rest of the stolen ornaments.
