The police of twin cities Bhubaneswar and Cuttack have cracked the sensational IIFL gold robbery case . IIFL, a gold loan leasing company, has claimed that 39.5 kg of gold was looted from its Cuttack branch.
Four persons barged into the Nayasadak branch of the company and looted gold at gunpoint on November 19. The company had lodged a police complaint stating that 39.5 kg gold was looted.
Police have recovered 2 kg of gold and took into custody four persons. The involvement of six persons in the crime was found.
“We found the involvement of an insider in the case. Lala Amrit Ray, who has been working in the company for the past five years, masterminded the robbery, fearing that his role in embezzlement of gold would get exposed,” said Sudhansu Sarangi, Commissioner of Police for Bhubaneswar-Cuttack, on Tuesday.
Lala Amrit Ray and his brother Lala Ranjan Ray have past criminal records. Ranjan was working in another gold loan leasing company and he was arrested for embezzlement of one kg of gold. Amrit could not be arrested then as he secured a bail from the High Court
“The company was perhaps unaware of Amrit Ray’s criminal antecedents. As per our information, he was involved in many irregularities. He had managed to sweep those under carpet by winning over the past auditors. When a new auditor joined and raised the issue of irregularities, he became worried,” said the police chief.
From the beginning, probe teams were apprehending the role of someone who had knowledge of the functioning of the branch.
Amrit took help of his childhood friend, Bapu alias Ranjan Behera, who hails from Biswanathpur area of Cuttack district.
Four persons who were roped in for robbing the branch were identified as Rajakishore Sahu, Biju alias Prakash Sahu and Padia alias Pradipta Behera, all hailing from Biswanathpur area, and Bapi alias Santosh Bhoi. Two bikes used by them were seized.
“It is a matter investigation as to how much gold was embezzled by the employees of IIFL. We have started the investigation, taking all aspects into account. When employees of the organisation are involved in the case, it is difficult to reveal how much gold was mortgaged and how much was missing. There could be many ghost loanees,” said Mr. Sarangi.
“We have come to know that a portion of gold was deposited in another gold loan leasing company. We will get to know about this after a detailed forensic audit,” he stated.
“So many lapses did take the investigators by surprise initially. It was a blind case. Although we knew it was well-planned robbery, we did not have any clue. We carried out the investigation in a professional manner,” Mr. Sarangi added.
