In a shocking case of revenge-fueled crime, Bhubaneswar police have busted a gang involved in a brazen armed robbery at Fortis Chemical Pvt. Ltd. in Nayapalli, recovering a toy gun, mobile phones, a vehicle, and stolen cash.
The incident, which unfolded on October 3, 2025, saw masked miscreants abduct the company’s manager, ransack the office, and flee with Rs 10 lakh in cash, a laptop, and other valuables.
According to the FIR filed by complainant K. Balunkeswar Pattanaik, the General Manager of Fortis Chemical Pvt. Ltd., the robbery targeted the company’s guest house-cum-account office at Plot No. N-4/185, beside Usthi Nursing Home. At around 7:30 PM, two assailants entered the premises posing as RTI officials and confronted manager Kaushal Kumar Singh. They snatched his mobile and keys, forcing him into a waiting white car where two more accomplices brandished a pistol and hurled abuses in a mix of Odia and Hindi.
The gang drove Singh a short distance, made phone calls confirming his capture, and then returned him to the office. There, they had already broken into almirahs and partitions, with lights switched off in the outer areas. Joined by three more masked individuals, they beat Singh, demanding the location of hidden cash. When staff member Mohit Mishra arrived unsuspectingly, he was also detained at gunpoint.
The robbers ransacked the place, located Rs 10 lakh in cash (unknown even to the victims), and continued assaulting the staff for more loot. They stole personal items, including mobiles, a purse, cards, a laptop, and a pen drive, before locking Singh and Mishra in the bathroom and fleeing. The victims managed to break out, found their SIM-less mobiles, and sought help from a passerby to alert authorities.
Police investigation revealed a revenge plot orchestrated by two former drivers of the company, Niranjan Nanda alias Raja and Ramakanta Patra alias Nitu, who were terminated from their jobs. Enraged, they enlisted Patra’s friend Harsha Rout, who assembled a gang from Ganjam district: Sagar Kumar Sahu alias Balia, Bipin Behera, Kalu Charan Pradhan alias Kalia, Rajendra Rout alias Bhuta, and Bisikesan Swain. One accomplice, Bishnu from Soma village in Purusottampur, remains at large.
Key breakthroughs came from CCTV footage showing a white Creta car (Regd. No. OD-02-CG-0687) at the scene. Traced to a rental company in Kolathia, records confirmed Harsha Rout had hired it just before the crime and returned it the next day. Rout’s arrest led to confessions and the apprehension of most gang members. Seizures include a toy gun used as the “pistol,” seven mobile phones, a Fiat car involved in the crime, and Rs 70,000 in recovered cash.
The case, registered under Section 310(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) read with Section 25(1-B)(a) of the Arms Act, highlights vulnerabilities in corporate security and the dangers of insider threats. Police are intensifying efforts to nab the fugitive and recover the remaining loot.
