In a significant breakthrough, Puri police have arrested four individuals, including an MBA student and a jewellery store owner, for their alleged involvement in a daring daylight robbery on National Highway-316 last month. The heist targeted a jeweller carrying a substantial amount of cash and ornaments.
The Highway Heist and Arrests
The incident occurred on November 20 around 9:30 am when Sanjay Kumar Das, a jeweller from Puri's Chandanpur area, was travelling to Bhubaneswar by car. Bike-borne assailants attacked him on NH-316, between Bhubaneswar and Puri, and made off with gold and silver ornaments as well as Rs 33 lakh in cash.
Following intensive investigation, police arrested four men on Tuesday. The arrested have been identified as Tuku Nayak (45), a jewellery store owner; Prasant Pradhan (41), a hotel worker; Subhrajit Mohanty (22), an MBA student from Bhubaneswar; and M Goutham (24) from Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Police are hunting for other accomplices.
Inside Job: The Mastermind Unmasked
Deputy Inspector General (central range) Satyajit Naik revealed that the prime accused, Tuku Nayak, was actually a family friend of the victim, Sanjay Kumar Das. Nayak, who also runs a jewellery store near Chandanpur, allegedly used his insider access to plan the crime.
Puri Superintendent of Police Prateek Singh stated that scrutiny of phone records and CCTV footage led investigators to Nayak. "He was a frequent visitor to the Das family home and shop, which gave him detailed knowledge of daily transactions and the movement of cash and jewellery," a police source explained.
Recoveries and Ongoing Investigation
The police have made a major recovery in the case. SP Prateek Singh confirmed that ornaments worth Rs 78.96 lakh have been seized. The haul includes 132 grams of gold, 31 kg of silver, Rs 6 lakh in cash, a pistol, and two bullets.
According to the police, Nayak allegedly enlisted his associate Prasant Pradhan to execute the plan. Pradhan then recruited three criminals from Andhra Pradesh and the MBA student, Subhrajit Mohanty, to carry out the robbery. Authorities are verifying the criminal histories of the arrested accused and continuing efforts to apprehend the remaining suspects.
