On Tuesday, police arrested Sarbeswar Pradhan, a notorious thief involved in multiple thefts across shopping malls and shops in Jagatsinghpur, Biridi, and Cuttack. According to Sub-Divisional Police Officer Rashmiranjan Sahoo, Pradhan, a resident of Badapokharia in Khurda district, was behind a series of burglaries in the region. After committing the crimes in Cuttack and Biridi, he had been staying at a hotel in Jagatsinghpur town since December 20 last year.
Pradhan specialized in breaking into shops and malls by climbing onto rooftops and opening locks on iron gates. The case came to light after Tusharkant Bhatt, the manager of V-Bazaar in Jagatsinghpur, filed an FIR reporting that thieves had broken into the mall’s rooftop iron gate and stolen goods.
A special police team was formed to track down the thief. During a raid, authorities seized a variety of stolen items, including cosmetics, dry fruits, dress materials, air bags, trolley bags, shoes, slippers, and house-breaking tools, with the total value of the recovered goods estimated at Rs50,000.
Further investigations revealed that Pradhan had also committed thefts in the Biridi police jurisdiction. Additional stolen items were recovered, including electric irons, table fans, chargers, dress materials, and induction cooktops, with an estimated value of over Rs1 lakh.
Pradhan is now in custody, and police are continuing their investigation into his past crimes.
