Three persons were arrested Thursday night for their involvement in the misappropriation of over Rs. 11 lakh from a private cash management company by staging a fake robbery, police confirmed.
The case unfolded after Asish Jena, branch head of the company’s Bhubaneswar office, filed a written complaint with Koraput Town police station on July 23. Jena accused employee Siba Prasad Nag, 31, stationed at the Koraput branch, of embezzling Rs. 11,04,370.
Siba initially claimed he was robbed near the LIC office in Koraput while en route to deposit the cash at a private bank. However, suspicion grew when Siba did not file a police report and his mobile phone became unreachable. This led Jena to lodge the complaint and initiate an investigation.
“Based on CCTV footage and other technical evidence, we arrested Nag, a resident of Jeypore. During interrogation, he admitted to staging the robbery,” said Satyananda Patra, IIC of Koraput Town police station.
Following Siba’s statement, police apprehended two other suspects — Badal Nag (27) from Jeypore and Khirasindhu Bindhani (40) from Silakguda in Nabarangpur district. The trio had conspired to fake the robbery at a location in town lacking CCTV coverage. Khirasindhu was brought in to impersonate an outsider and divert suspicion.
So far, police have recovered Rs. 4 lakh in cash and seized the motorcycle used in the crime. One more accused from Nabarangpur district remains at large, and efforts are underway to arrest him.
