Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, June 7: A gang of robbers that broke into the house of retired High Court judge PK Mohanty in Sector-11 in CDA area of Cuttack a week back were unaware they were looting a former judge’s house, police commissioner RP Sharma said Sunday.
Police arrested the leader of the gang from Chandikhole after linking the burglary to another similar incident in Salepur May 22. Both burglaries had similar patterns. Sharma said efforts are on to arrest other members of the gang.
Describing the modus operandi of the gang, Sharma said the robbers tied down the former judge, his wife and daughter-in-law and locked them inside a room before cleaning the house of cash and jewellery. “Before fleeing, the robbers confiscated all the phones inside the house to prevent the victims from calling the police,” Sharma said.
The police commissioner added that contrary to speculations that the robbers were from other states, the members of the gang were very much locals and were natives of Kendrapara district. There were previously unconfirmed reports that the robbers were conversing in Hindi, Bengali and Tamil and that the police were suspecting the role of an interstate gang.
“The burglars ordered Mohanty and his family members not to raise an alarm. They told him they were there only for valuables and had no intention to harm. They left after an hour in the judge’s car,” said MK Senapati, inspector-in-charge of the Markatnagar police station in Cuttack. The car that the burglars had looted was found at Rasulgarh square in Bhubaneswar.
Taking serious note of the incident, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik convened a meeting of senior police officials at the Secretariat to take stock of the security scenario in Cuttack city.
“The Chief Minister summoned DGP Sanjeev Marik and police commissioner RP Sharma to the Secretariat here and asked them to expedite the investigation and track down the robber gang at the earliest. The CM also asked them to intensify patrolling in Bidanasi and CDA areas in Cuttack and take appropriate steps for installation of CCTVs at all sensitive locations in Cuttack city,” sources said.
