Bhubaneswar: The Railway Protection Force (RPF), in coordination with GRP Bhubaneswar and the Crime Intelligence Branch (CIB), Saturday recovered stolen gold and silver ornaments worth Rs 1.95 lakh under Operation Yatri Suraksha in connection with a train theft case registered in February this year.
The recovery relates to GRPS Bhubaneswar Case No. 34 dated February 24, registered under Section 305(C) of the BNS on the basis of a complaint lodged by Sreeya Das (30) of Chandini Chowk, Cuttack.
According to police, the complainant was travelling in Train No. 18447 Hirakhand Express February 24 when the theft took place between 7:19 pm and 7:30 pm in coach S2 at Bhubaneswar railway station.
She had kept a black bag on the upper berth, which was stolen within minutes.
The bag contained four gold rings (5.5 grams), a gold chain (12 grams), a gold pendant (2.3 grams) and a silver bracelet, valued at nearly Rs1.95 lakh.
During the investigation, a joint team of the RPF and CIB examined CCTV footage and arrested accused Anatha Behera (40) of Tangi, Khurda, February 27.
A portion of the stolen items, including a silver bracelet, was recovered from him. However, Anatha could not account for all the stolen items and told police that he had lost the stolen bag.
RPF officials said he was allegedly intoxicated while carrying it, lost consciousness and dropped the bag.
“After reviewing CCTV footage, we found that a passerby picked up the abandoned bag,” said Amaresh Behera, IIC, RPF.
Continuing the probe through CCTV footage analysis, the team traced the case to Dhenkanal and recovered the stolen bag from Tapas Dehury (30).
During questioning, Tapas confessed to hiding the remaining gold ornaments at his residence.
Acting on this, the team recovered the remaining stolen items, and the process to return them to the complainant is underway.
