Operation ‘White Metal’: Four Arrested in ₹78.9-Lakh Highway Robbery Case in Puri
Puri: In a major breakthrough, the Puri Police have cracked the high-value highway robbery reported on NH-316 near the Samjajpur Railway Over-Bridge on November 20, recovering property worth nearly ₹79 lakh and arresting four accused under Operation “White Metal”.
According to police, the incident took place at around 9:45 PM when unidentified assailants intercepted a vehicle transporting cash, gold and silver ornaments from Radha Krushna Jewellery, Damodarpur Bazar. Armed with a pistol, the robbers fled with gold necklaces, 31 kg of silver ornaments, ₹6 lakh in cash, vehicles and multiple mobile phones.
Following the complaint filed by jewellery shop owner Sanjay Kumar Das of Chandanpur, the case was initially registered under Sec. 309(4) BNS and the Arms Act, later converted to Sec. 310(2) BNS read with Sec. 25/27 Arms Act.
Puri SP Prateek Singh formed two Special Investigation Wings, which conducted multiple raids across Puri, Khordha and Andhra Pradesh. The operation led to the arrest of:
- Tukula @ Tuku Nayak (45), owner of Nilakantha Jewellery, alleged mastermind
- Bapi @ Prasant Pradhan (41), hotel staff
- M. Goutham (24) of Vishakhapatnam
- Subhrajit Mohanty (22), an MBA student from Bhubaneswar
Investigators revealed that Nayak, a known acquaintance of the complainant, orchestrated the robbery with Pradhan, who arranged three associates from Andhra Pradesh to execute the crime. The gang used a Skoda car (AP-05CY-8656) and a motorcycle (OR-05-AL-3951) during the offence and getaway.
Police have recovered 132 g of gold, 31 kg of silver, ₹6 lakh in cash, six mobile phones, a pistol with two live rounds, and the two vehicles—collectively valued at ₹78,96,000. All four accused have confessed, officials said.
Further investigation is underway to trace any additional collaborators and verify the wider network behind the organized robbery.
The Puri Police urged the public to remain vigilant and share any information that may support the ongoing probe.
