SAMBALPUR: Solving the Rs 39 lakh hotel heist case, Sambalpur police on Wednesday arrested four persons and recovered over Rs 32 lakh of the stolen cash buried underground in a village in Deogarh district.
The arrested persons include three staff of the hotel. They were identified as Dileswar Behera of Banakalo village in Deogarh, Manas Pradhan of Narsinghpur in Cuttack, Jogeswar Behera of Barkote and Gobinda Mallick of Binika in Sonepur. Dileswar was a former bar attendant of the hotel while Manas, Jogeswar and Gobinda worked as assistant cook, waiter and receptionist respectively.
Police sources said on April 15, Rs 39 lakh cash and some important documents were stolen from the office room of the hotel in the night. The next day, the hotel cashier lodged a complaint with Dhanupali police about the burglary basing on which a case was registered.
To investigate the case, a special police team was formed. The team scanned the CCTV footage and arrested prime accused Dileswar. During interrogation, he confessed to have committed the theft with the help of his accomplices.
Dileswar had left his job as a bar attendant in the hotel around one and a half months back. He along with the three other accused hatched a conspiracy to commit the burglary. On April 15, Manas, Jogeswar and Gobinda unlocked the back door of the hotel kitchen and kept it open in the night.
Dileswar entered the hotel office room located on the fourth floor by climbing a bamboo structure attached to the building for renovation purpose. He broke open the almirah, took out Rs 39 lakh cash and escaped through the back door attached to the kitchen. The accused then went to Deogarh and buried the cash underground in Banakalo village. Sambalpur SP B Gangadhar said police are verifying whether the accused persons have any criminal antecedents.