Bhubaneswar: Police have arrested a 21-year-old man in connection with a daring early-morning robbery in which an elderly woman was threatened with a firearm and robbed of her gold earrings at Nayapalliin Odisha capital.
The accused has been identified as Ashok Behera, a resident of Behera Sahi in Nayapalli. He had allegedly targeted 68-year-old Indumati Balabantaray on February 4 while she was plucking flowers in her garden around 5 am in the Gadasahi locality.
According to police, the accused intimidated the woman by brandishing a pistol, threatened to kill her, and forcibly snatched a pair of gold earrings and a pair of imitation bangles before fleeing through the back side of the house. Her son, Manoranjan Balabantray, lodged a formal complaint at Nayapalli police station later that morning.
Investigators examined CCTV cameras in the vicinity, which captured a tall, slim individual wearing a black hoodie and black jacket, armed with what appeared to be a gun, entering the premises. Further analysis showed the suspect escaping on a white scooter. Following a tip-off during early morning patrolling near VIP Colony on February 12, police spotted a suspicious person riding a white scooter in Behera Sahi area of Nayapalli around 4.45 am, and apprehended the rider.
Behera confessed to committing the robbery using a toy gun, to repay a loan of Rs 20,000. A pair of gold earrings and one pair of imitation bangles, along with a toy gun, a mobile phone, and the white scooter used in the crime, were seized.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-V) Biswaranjan Senapati said that Behera had no prior criminal record. He explained that the accused had lived near the victim’s residence 10 to 15 years ago, knew of her routine of waking early to pluck flowers, and accordingly planned the robbery during the early hours when the streets were deserted.
