Rourkela: In a daring daylight heist, miscreants decamped with gold and silver ornaments worth around Rs 12 lakh from the official quarters of a havildar on the premises of Plant Site police station here on Saturday.
The incident came to light after the havildar with the Reserve Office (RO), Subrata Hota, lodged a complaint at night.
Hota’s wife revealed that the theft took place between 9 am and 6 pm when all four members of the family, including their two children, were away at nearby Lathikata block. Upon returning, they found the main door lock broken and discovered that ornaments worth Rs 15 lakh to Rs 20 lakh were stolen from the wardrobe and almirah. Four door locks were cut open or broken to gain entry into the house, she added.
Zone II Deputy SP Amarendra Sandh confirmed that Hota had returned home on May 21 after four months of training and was away with his family during the incident.
The burglary, executed right at the backyard of the police station, is being seen as a mockery of the police at a time when the ongoing Operation Suraksha is specifically aimed at containing property offences and keeping hardcore and habitual offenders under surveillance.
DIG of Police (Western Range), Brijesh Kumar Rai, however, described the incident as an aberration. “Instruction has been issued to form special teams for the arrest of the culprits and recovery of the stolen properties at the earliest,” TNIE reported, quoting him.
