Jharsuguda: Jharsuguda police arrested eight persons and detained two juveniles in connection with a major dacoity at pan masala trader Mukesh Buchwani’s house at Vinayak Puram lane here on November 19. The police used advanced scientific methods, including CCTV footage analysis, cyber forensics, digital evidence, mobile phone location analysis and finger-printing to crack the inter-State case.

The gang had reportedly planned the heist for almost two years. The arrested individuals were apprehended from the districts in Odisha and Jharkhand. Two of the accused are juveniles. Following the incident of dacoity, specialised teams were formed under the supervision of Jharsuguda SP Gundala Reddy Raghavendra. The teams analysed CCTV footage and the suspected route of the dacoits.

The breakthrough led to the recovery of stolen property valued at Rs 1.28 crore.

The dacoits tied up six family members of Buchwani and held them hostage at gunpoint for nearly three hours before decamping with cash, gold and silver ornaments. Those arrested have been identified as Ashok Kumar Panda of Jharsuguda, Sanjay Singh (Jharkhand), Radhakanta Kanhar (Jharsuguda), Jagabandhu Behera (Cuttack), Kanha Charan Swain (Jagatsinghpur), Jitendra Sahoo (Jagatsinghpur), Anand Rai (Bolangir) and Sushila Meher (Bolangir).

The mastermind of the robbery was identified as Ashok Kumar Panda, who allegedly conspired with Sanjay Singh to rope in other accused. The police recovered Rs 37 lakh cash, 521 grams of gold and 14.32 kg of silver ornaments.