BHUBANESWAR: In a shocking incident, armed dacoits barged into a provident fund officer’s home in Mancheswar area on Friday night and decamped with cash and gold jewellery worth Rs 30 lakh by attacking the family members. The incident which occurred at Sameigadia under Mancheswar police limits at 9.45 pm has left the locals stunned and posed a serious question mark on policing in the City.
Giridhari Biswal, an Assistant Commissioner of Provident Fund, was away when the dacoity took place. His wife Savitri, son Soumya Ranjan and daughter Bishnupriya were at home when the six masked dacoits broke into their house. Preliminary investigation suggested the six were armed with fire-arms and sharp weapons.
After making entry into the house, the daocits asked the family members for the keys to their chests by terrorising them. When Soumya Ranjan resisted, he was attacked with sharp weapons. Then the dacoits cleaned up Rs 10 lakh in cash and gold ornaments estimated at Rs 20 lakh which the Biswal family had arranged for the daughter’s marriage.
Soumya Ranjan was rushed to Capital Hospital for treatment. Bhubaneswar DCP Nitinjit Singh and local police rushed to the spot for investigation. No one has been arrested yet.
The incident has spread a sense of insecurity among the locals since instances of burglary and theft has been on the rise in the fringe areas of the City where night patrolling has been less than adequate. That the incident occurred during late evening has come as a shocker to the police too.