Bhubnaeswar: Burglars have allegedly decamped with valuables worth lakhs, including a car and a two-wheeler from a house at Sailashree Vihar in Chandrasekharpur police limits in the city.

The house owner, Santosh Kumar Behera, an engineer working with Nalco, had been to Damanjodi with his family members since Wednesday.

"I was on an official tour and returned on Sunday night. I found a window grill broken. I also found my car and the bike of my daughter missing. I immediately informed the police and entered my house in their presence. They have also defecated in my toilet," said Behera.

"Three almirahs were completely ransacked. The criminals have also decamped with TV, laptop, electronic gadgets, gold ornaments and sarees. The keys of the car and bike were in the cupboard," said Behera.

The police have started an investigation after registering a case. "A forensic team visited the spot. We suspect involvement of a gang in the loot as it might have taken hours to ransack the entire house. We are also trying to get CCTV footage from nearby houses," said deputy commissioner of police Anup Kumar Sahoo.

In August 2015, the police had busted a dacoits' gang and arrested two of its members.

The gang members used to defecate in the house of the victims considering it as auspicious.

The police had seized 220 grams of gold ornaments, 100 grams silver, two laptops, three mobile phones and two watches from the two accused, identified as Nalu Swain and K. Simadri.

The poor rate of recovery of the stolen articles in burglary cases has remained as a major worry for the residents.

According to the police statistics, as many as 216 burglary cases had been registered in Bhubaneswar in 2017. However, the police managed to recover only 50 per cent of the stolen articles to the tune of Rs 1.17 crore.