Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Feb 14: Three men were arrested Saturday for allegedly stealing electronic gadgets worth Rs 4 crore from an IT warehouse in the Highway Complex at Rudrapur February 9. One person who was earlier employed as a driver with the warehouse is among four other accused who are at large.
In the biggest haul of gadgets, police seized 204 tablets, 215 laptops, 522 mobile phones including iphones, 2,200 pen drives, 400 data cards, 8 LED monitors, 35 bluetooth devices along with ipads and other electronic goods “which is estimated to be worth Rs 4 crore”, said police commissioner Rajendra Prasad Sharma while producing the accused before media.
Those arrested include Ramesh Mallik alias Landa, 30, and Manoj Kumar Rout, 20, of Jajpur, as well as Manoj Kumar Mandal, 26, of Nayagarh. Mandal, a driver.
The plan was hatched by a security guard named Nihar Ranjan Beuda, who worked in BIS securities, a private agency, said the commissioner. Beuda, along with other associates Sagar alias Khirod Kumar Sahoo, Bikash Mohanty and Bubu Mallick are still at large.
“Their plan was to enter the warehouse after 9 pm through the front gate by overpowering the 50-year-old security guard and steal everything they can get their hands on,” the commissioner said.
The seven-member gang stashed the stolen articles in a van and sped away towards the hills of Dharmasala where they hid half of the stolen material while taking other half to Banguari village, Sharma said.
When the case was lodged February 9 by the warehouse owner, the police thought it was a simple case of robbery. “We hadn’t expected the scale to be so big and also did not expect so many people to be involved. Later, the special squad was put on the job of nabbing the culprits,” the commissioner said, adding that “soon the other perpetrators will be nabbed.”