39.5 kg gold robbed from Odisha IIFL, cops chase clues

Odisha police said that the robbers had left 5kg of gold jewellery behind. Investigation is on in the case.

The armed robbery on Thursday morning at the Cuttack branch of IIFL Finance, a leading non-banking finance company, may turn out to be even bigger with the officials of the finance company lodging a complaint that the robbers have looted 39.5 kg of gold jewelleries worth Rs 12 crore.

Police said the security arrangements at IIFL Finance at Cuttack were shoddy, leaving the branch vulnerable.(HT Photo)

Deputy commissioner of police, Cuttack, Prateek Singh said the officials of the company last evening lodged an FIR of robbery of 39.5 kg gold jewelleries and Rs 4 lakh cash when the company had just opened its doors for business.

“We found around 5 kg of gold jewellery left by the robbers. However, the exact amount of looted jewellery would be known after we crosscheck the ledgers of the company,” said Singh.

On Thursday morning, four armed men wearing masks and helmets had entered the office of the Nayasarak branch of IIFL Finance after it opened around 9.40 am and threatened the lone unarmed security guard at gunpoint. The miscreants, who spoke in Hindi and Odia, then rounded up the branch manager and other staff into a toilet and snatched the keys to the locker containing the jewelleries that were mortgaged by hundreds of IIFL customers for loans.

The company’s branch manager said the entire robbery was over in 10 minutes. The DCP said seven special teams have been formed to nab the suspects and all are investigating separate leads. The borders of the city have been sealed and police from neighbouring Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Dhenkanal and Kendrapara districts have been alerted.

Commissioner of police Sudhansu Sarangi said the finance company, though dealing with a large amount of gold jewelleries, violated all existing provisions of security that banks and financial companies should have taken.

“The CCTV camera was not functional. The alarm system was not working. The security guard did not have any arms. The regular security guard was away as his father got infected by Covid-19. Despite our regular advice to banks and finance companies, IIFL did not seem to adhere to any of the security guidelines,” said the commissioner.