The vechile from which Rs 70 lakh was robbed. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 30: Armed criminals today robbed a realtor of Rs 70 lakh barely 500 metres from Naveen Nivas, the chief minister’s residence in the city.

Two motorcycle-borne criminals stopped 32-year-old builder Biswajit Sahu’s car around 10.30am near Kargil slum. They snatched the bag containing the cash after threatening Sahu with a dagger and sped away before anyone could react. Sahu was on his way to a bank near KIIT Square to deposit the cash.

Sources said the criminals had tailed the car from near the Kargil slum. As Sahu’s driver slowed down, the criminals overtook the vehicle and forced it to stop.

“The two youths threatened both Sahu and his driver with sharp weapons and decamped with the cash. They fled away towards Pokhariput,” said an official of Airfield police station.

Sources said Sahu’s father, Ugrashen Sahu, runs a real estate firm at Forest Park and the family lives at Pokhariput. “As soon as we stopped our vehicle, they forcefully opened the lock and threatened me with a dagger. They sped away with the cash, my mobile phone and a bracelet,” said Sahu.

The police suspect involvement of some employees of Ugrashen’s company in the incident as they had information about the financial transactions.

The police are also investigating the role of the driver Mohan Sahu, who had allegedly stolen Rs 3.5 lakh from Ugrashen’s house three months ago. “We are also trying to find out why the driver was retained by the family despite the theft. We have detained both Sahu and Mohan for further investigation,” said a police official.

“The police have blocked roads leading out of the town and are checking suspected vehicles,” said police commissioner R.P. Sharma.

The police also criticised the businessman for being callous about his security as all residents had been asked to inform local police stations in advance when carrying huge amounts of cash.