Bhubaneswar, June 7: Robbers and burglars are having a field day in the Silver City, striking terror in the minds of denizens.
Barely a week after an armed robbery in the house of a former Orissa high court judge in CDA sector, dacoits broke into the house of an advocate in the same locality and looted valuables and cash, the police said Sunday.
The burglars broke into the house of high court advocate Ajay Mohanty in CDA sector-11 Saturday night. His house is situated close to the office of the ACP and the house of Justice (retired) PK Mohanty, whose house had been burgled in the wee hours of May 30, they said.
As there was no one in the house at the time of the incident, the burglars broke open the iron grills and entered the premises and decamped with valuables including gold and silver ornaments, household goods and cash, police said.
Mohanty’s family members claimed that `60,000, gold and silver jewellry worth lakhs of rupees were missing.
Doors of six rooms in the house have been broken open and cupboards ransacked.
The incident took place barely a week after a gang of armed dacoits allegedly robbed retired high court judge Pradyumna Kumar Mohanty’s house in the wee hours of May 30. Mohanty is currently heading the Judicial Commission of Enquiry probing the Pipili gang-rape and murder incident of 2012.
The dacoits, after tying the 70-year-old Mohanty, his wife and daughter-in-law in a room, broke open the shelves and decamped with cash and jewellery worth over `50 lakh, police said adding that the dacoits escaped with Mohanty’s car, that was later traced near Rasulgarh, on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.
The incident has come as a fresh setback to the police which earlier this week got a dressing-down from the high court. The fact that the robbery took place when the police have intensified patrolling in the area showed the law-enforcing agency in a poor light.
In the wake of the HC strictures, the police had tightened security and night patrolling in CDA sector.
The police officials investigating the case at the lawyer’s house said night patrolling had been intensified Saturday following the court order and a directive from the state government. All vehicles were thoroughly checked at the entry and exit points in the city, they added. PTI
