In a dramatic breach of trust, a domestic help allegedly made off with over Rs 65 lakh in cash from the house of a retired engineer in Bhubaneswar, only to be tracked down after bragging about his sudden fortune back in his home village.
The incident took place at Jagannath Nagar Lane-4 in the Laxmisagar area of the capital city. The victim, Ashok Sahu, a retired engineer, had recently withdrawn his Provident Fund (PF) savings amounting to Rs 65.86 lakh and kept the cash at his residence.
According to the complaint lodged at the Laxmisagar police station, Bikash Biswal—a long-time and trusted domestic help—noticed the huge sum of money. Shortly after the cash arrived, Bikash’s behaviour turned suspicious. He soon left the house on the pretext of visiting his native village and vanished, switching off all communication.
Sensing foul play, Mr Sahu alerted the local authorities. CCTV footage analysis revealed that Bikash boarded a cab from Jagannath Nagar to the railway station, travelled to Puri, and then hired a car to reach his native village, Bahudhia, under the Astaranga Marine police station limits.
The robbery took a swift turn when rumours spread throughout Bahudhia village about Bikash arriving with thick wads of cash. The gossip quickly reached the Puri Police Control Room.
Acting on the intelligence, a joint team comprising the Laxmisagar police and Astaranga Marine police raided Bikash’s ancestral home on Tuesday. Sensing the arrival of the police force, Bikash managed to slip away into nearby hideouts. However, police recovered Rs 54.80 lakh from his mother, who handed over the cash during the search.
Efforts are currently underway to trace the remaining Rs 11 lakh. Police have intensified raids across potential hideouts to nab the absconding suspect, and further investigation into the matter is in progress.
