Niranjan Patnaik house theft case: Police checked 400 CCTV footages, 10k mobile phones, interrogated 50 and nabbed culprit

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Police scrutinized 400 CCTV footages, checked 10k mobile phones and interrogated as many as 50 persons that finally led the arrest of the high-profile hi-tech looter that took place in the house of senior Congress leader Niranjan Patnaik in January. This was informed by the Police Commissioner at a presser in the capital city. Providing information about the crime, the Commissioner of Police said that it was a very challenging case for Police. The looter had worn a mask on his face and gloves in his hand. Police had no evidence. Hence, to catch the accused, the police formed multiple teams and started the investigation. During the investigation, police checked 400 CCTVs. Those who were not in their houses were contacted and their houses were opened and the CCTV footages were checked. Apart from that 10 thousand mobile phones were checked. Besides, as many as 50 people were questioned regarding the crime, the CP informed. It was a challenge for us to identify the looter. During scrutiny of the CCTV footages, the looter fled to Andhra Pradesh by changing multiple cars. To catch him, the Police team camped in Andhra. Later, the investigating team of Police checked the jails in Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. It was found that the accused was in Kerala jail before the loot. There are 17 cases in the name of this culprit in different states. He is also known as ‘Spider Shakti’ because he can climb like a spider to reach the upper stairs of a building for theft. All the gold ornaments that he had stolen have been seized from the accused. The torch light, mobile phone, the dress he was wearing during the crime have also been seized. The accused Spider was a smart thief. He searched the VIP area on Google before executing the loot. The accused of this case Spider had been released from jail merely three months before. He had looted earlier from a minister’s house in Bengaluru.