The Commissionerate Police on Monday cracked last month's sensational robbery in the house of retired High Court Judge Pradyumna Kumar Mohanty after arresting six persons in this connection and recovering parts of the stolen cash and gold from them. Admitting that it was a very challenging case, Twin City Commissioner of Police RP Sharma heaved a sigh of relief, announcing that the police have recovered cash of Rs 7.05 lakh and 300 grams of melted gold from the dacoits, who are notorious criminals from Kendrapada district.
Dr Sharma, however, denied an earlier claim that the dacoits never knew that they were looting the house of a retired judge. The heist in Justice Mohanty's house was preplanned and the dacoits had conducted a recce of the locality three days before the incident. Nine persons covering their faces had entered into the house at Sector 11 of Abhinav Bidanasi in the early hours of May 30 and decamped with cash of over Rs 11 lakh and gold jewellery after tying the family members up in a room. The dacoits had escaped from the spot in Mohanty's car, which was later traced near Bhubaneswar.
Dr Sharma said the case was detected while following the modus operandi of a similar incident that had taken place on May 22 at a village under the neighbouring Salepur police station of Cuttack rural police. "Investigating the Salepur dacoity case as our own case, we were able to track the main accused at Baleswar who was subsequently nabbed at Chandikhol. "A team of over 30 policemen under six inspectors of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar were involved in this operation, which took about a week to make the breakthrough," Sharma said, adding that over 300 persons were questioned by the police in this connection. Police are hopeful of arresting the remaining members of the gang and make some more seizures.