BHUBANESWAR: Two persons, including a woman, were arrested on Friday in connection with a theft at a jewellery showroom here.
The accused are Ranjita Nayak (33) of Badagada here and Pusparanjan Sahoo (40) of Jankia in Khurda.
Ranjita was employed as a saleswoman at the jewellery shop for over 12 years.
They were charged under Section 408 of the IPC and produced in court on Saturday.
The loot came to the fore during an audit of the stock following which director of the jewellery showroom lodged an FIR at the Kharavel Nagar police station on Monday.
He alleged misappropriation of jewellery weighing 2160.66 grams worth `80 lakh from his shop at Master Canteen square. Based on the suspicion of the complainant, police quizzed Ranjita who revealed to have stolen the ornaments over a year’s time.
Ranjita informed police that she either used to sell the ornaments to Sahoo or mortgaged those at several banks to avail loans.
Gold ornaments worth Rs 25 lakh and Rs two lakh in cash have been recovered from the accused.
From among the 160 ornaments seized, police recovered 94 gold bangles from four financial institutions, where the accused had deposited those as collateral against loans.