The district police on Wednesday arrested two persons involved in a robbery at the Utkal Grameen Bank (UGB) at Chiplima. The police also seized cash worth `3.96 lakh, a pistol, a mobile set and two numberless bikes from them.
They were identified as Banty alias Bibhuti Bhusan Suna (25) of Stationpara in Sambalpur and Ashis Pal (22) of Mahatab Nagar in Burla.
On June 16 last, a gang of five burglars had looted the Chipilima based UGB in broad day light and decamped with `16 lakh. However, during a search, the police had retrieved `8.58 lakh from the bank’s strong room.
“Five professional criminals had organised the crime. Two of them have been arrested and the rest would be nabbed soon,” said Sambalpur SP Prateek Mohanty.
He also said that the police arrested the two robbers within 48 hours after the incident took place. “A total of `12.53 lakh has already been recovered. We hope that more cash will be recovered after the arrest of the other three miscreants,” said the SP.