Jorhat, Dec. 28: Police today recovered some of the items which were robbed from the house of a businessman at Rowriah on the outskirts of Jorhat a week back from the possession of army personnel based at the 3 Corps headquarters at Rangapahar near Dimapur in Nagaland.

The army, however, was quick to confirm that the Jorhat raid was an “operation” based on intelligence inputs.

A release issued to the press by defence PRO, Lt Col S.S. Phogat, said based on initial information forwarded by the police, the army had launched an intelligence-based operation in Jorhat on the night of December 21. “The intelligence input was credible but the operation did not go according to norms. Army authorities have accepted responsibility for the same and have initiated an internal inquiry to pinpoint responsibility. Jorhat police are in close co-ordination with army authorities in Jorhat and Dimapur. All assistance is being provided to facilitate the police inquiry,” it said.

A police team, led by the officer-in-charge of Jorhat police station B.C. Gogoi, had gone to Rangapahar near Dimapur this morning. A senior official at the police headquarters in Guwahati told The Telegraph this evening that the army has been cooperating and the police team was interrogating the army personnel, including a woman officer, inside the 3 Corps headquarters. “Interrogation will continue late in the night or probably even tomorrow. Some of the army personnel involved in the robbery may be taken into custody,” he said.

Investigation into the December 21 robbery had revealed that the heavily armed group, including a woman, broke into the house of Poona Gogoi, a contractor with the military engineering services, tied up his wife and children and decamped with Rs 1.5 lakh in cash and other valuables, including three mobile phones and a .32 licensed pistol owned by the businessman.

The police got a hint of the army’s involvement through one of the phones that the gang had snatched from the house.

An army jawan, havildar Sandeep Thapa, had been making regular calls from the mobile phone to his home in Himachal Pradesh.

An inter-state car-lifter, Nirmal Gogoi, who hails from Jamuguri near Rowriah, had also accompanied the gang during the raid.

The police official said there had been no response from the army when contacted by the Jorhat police a few days after the robbery but the 3 Corps headquarters has been cooperating since last night.

“They have asked for details about the findings which links the army personnel with the incident. The police team has necessary documents in this regard,” the official said.

A team of army personnel had visited Poona Gogoi’s house a few days after the robbery and asked him to describe the persons involved in the robbery.

Jorhat police had also approached the court for arrest warrants against the army personnel involved in the case.