Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate police on Monday arrested a youth involved in the two bank dacoity cases in Bhubaneswar in September this year.
Briefing the media, police commissioner Sudhanshu Sarangi said the accused Soumya Ranjan Jena (25), a Plus II Commerce student of Tangibantala village under Mancheswar police limits, had opened a garment and a shoe shops after obtaining Rs 19 lakh from the Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) branch near Nandan Vihar in Infocity area and Bank of India (BOI)’s Barimunda branch in Mancheswar.
“Jena was having a decent monthly business of around Rs 6 lakh. However, due to the lockdown, his business was severely affected. As he was not able to repay the remaining bank loan of Rs 6 lakh, he decided to loot these two banks where he had opened his account. Since he had no idea of looting the bank, he learned the trick from the YouTube channel and succeeded in his attempt,” Sarangi said, adding that Soumya has paid Rs 60,000 as the loan amount from the loot money.
He said as more than one person is usually involved in the bank dacoity, the police faced a challenge in this case which involved one person. Due to the mode of investigation by the special squad police, the accused was nabbed.
“From the CCTV footage, police found that the same person was involved in the two bank dacoity cases as he wore the same outfit and used the same helmet and the bike. Secondly, police also came to know about the involvement a local who is well aware of the functioning of these two banks and the number of staff. Besides, the accused spoke in Odia while threatening the bank officials. After gathering these evidence, police began the investigation and nabbed the youth,” he added.
The Police Commissioner also said Soumya used an air pistol during the loot of the IOB and a country-made revolver in the BOI looting. “Police have seized the two guns and the cash,” he added.
When asked about how the police made a breakthrough, Sarangi said he will not reveal it as this will help the criminals adopt another strategy.
Notably, Jena had looted Rs 2.78 lakh from the IOB on September 7 and Rs 10 lakh from the BOI on September 29.
