Engineering student among 4 arrested in connection with 9 burglaries in Odisha

Berhampur: Four people, including an engineering student, were arrested on Thursday in connection with burglaries at nine places in Odisha's Ganjam district, police said.

Items worth over Rs 10 lakh were seized from those arrested, they said.

Among these items were gold ornament, mobile phones, computers, colour printers, a water cooler, a water filter, a scooter, a digital weighing machine, and Rs 1.40 lakh in cash, besides house-breaking equipment, they added.

The gold ornaments were recovered from a bank and a private finance company, where the accused had deposited them, police said.

Those arrested were identified as Silu Nayak (21), a fourth-year BTech student, Bikash Bisoyi (23), Kalia Behera (21) and Sarasa Kumar Nayak (32) of Borosingi, they said.

SP (Berhampur) Saravana Vivek M said a search was underway for other members of the gang who have been identified.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the gang was involved in at least nine burglaries -- six in the Gopalpur police station area, two in Golanthara police station limits and one in the Chamakhandi police station area, he said.

All the burglaries were committed in the last five months, he added.

"We suspect the gang might have been involved in several other such cases in adjoining districts. We are verifying it," he said.

The arrests were made during the investigation of a burglary case registered in the Golanthara police station on December 19. The gang robbed gold ornaments weighing 350 grams and over Rs 45,000 in cash, among others, by breaking into a house, police said.