Sambalpur: Odisha police have apprehended a key accused in the January 3 heist at Manappuram Finance in Sambalpur in Assam’s Guwahati, IG (northern range), Himanshu Lal, informed on Wednesday.
The arrested has been identified as Uttam Kumar Paswan.
Sambalpur police will move to a local court seeking a seven-day remand of Pasawan for further investigation in the case, sources said.
On January 27, a eight-member team of Odisha Police left for Bihar to take custody of the alleged mastermind, Pallu Singh, lodged at Beur Central Jail, suspecting the role of inter-state dacoity gang with masterminds operating from jails in Bihar and West Bengal, in the daring daylight dacoity.
“The gang of Subodh Singh and Pallu Singh, currently lodged in separate jails in Bihar and West Bengal, are involved in the loot case. One is lodged at Beur jail in Patna and the other, at Presidency Jail in Kolkata, West Bengal. They are working with criminals while in jail. Efforts will be made to tightened the noose around this gang to prevent any recurrence,” Lal had earlier told the media.
A group of unidentified armed robbers barged into the Manappuram Gold Loan office on Budharaja Main Road in Sambalpur city just after it had opened on January 3 and fled on motorcycles with approximately 30 kg of gold along with cash worth over Rs 4 lakh.
On January 17, two persons, identified as Pankaj Paswan and Ajay Paswan of Bihar’s Hajipur, were arrested by Ainthapali police. They were nabbed from Thelkuli area but no gold could be recovered from them.
In a statement, Manappuram Finance said preliminary investigations suggested that the stolen assets were valued at approximately Rs 20 crore.
