Bhubaneswar: Almost 11 months after the sensational robbery and double murder at a jewellery shop in Jajpur’s Panikoili, police nabbed the alleged mastermind from Motihari area near the Bihar-Nepal border.
The accused, identified as Bikash Ray (32), was captured by a special team of Panikoili police late on Thursday and the arrest was made public by authorities on Saturday.
A resident of Bihar, he is believed to have orchestrated the heist while serving time in a Bihar jail. He was released on bail just weeks before the robbery.
On January 4, a gang of four robbers, who arrived on motorbikes posing as customers, attempted to loot the jewellery store. The robbery quickly escalated when the employees resisted, and the criminals opened fire, leading to tragic deaths of a customer and an employee. In the chaos, locals tried to overpower the robbers, managing to capture two suspects, while the other two managed to flee the scene.
The incident occurred between 1pm and 1.30 pm.
Besides these two, police also arrested Manjit Choudhary, 23, a native of Bihar residing in Uttar Pradesh, later that month.
