Rourkela police on Tuesday arrested three men in connection with two separate theft incidents in the city. Two were apprehended for a house burglary in Chhend, while the third was caught for stealing an LPG cylinder.
On December 22, 2025, Sandhyarani Mohapatra (42), a resident of Chhend and native of Ganjam, left for Bhubaneswar with her family. Upon returning on January 2, she found her house door and almirah locks broken, with valuables worth around Rs 4 lakh missing, including Rs 30,000 in cash, silver plates, jewellery, and wristwatches.
Police registered a case and arrested Chandan Singh (33) and Kasinath Majhi (36), both residents of Malgodam under Uditnagar police station limits. Authorities recovered silver jewellery, a golden watch, a scooter, and Rs 3,000 in cash. Police noted that Chandan Singh has multiple previous cases registered in Raghunathpalli, Tangarpalli, Chhend, Uditnagar, and Bondamunda police stations.
In a separate case, Prakash Ray (27) of Shantinagar Basti, Sector-14, was arrested for stealing an LPG cylinder from a house in Kalinga Vihar, Chhend, on January 5. The complainant, Subrat Kumar Sahoo, along with a local resident, chased and caught the accused before handing him over to police. The stolen cylinder was successfully recovered. Ray also has prior cases in Chhend and Sector-15 police stations.
Police confirmed that the accused will face charges under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and that investigations are ongoing to check for their involvement in other thefts in Rourkela.
