Bhubaneswar, Aug. 3: Two goons allegedly made off with cash worth Rs 5 lakh kept in a car by diverting the driver's attention at Lakshmisagar.

One of the youths came up to the driver and told him that a few currency notes were lying near his vehicle. As soon as the driver opened the car's door to pick up the money, the youth opened the rear door of the vehicle and fled with the cash.

Police said the incident took place at 1pm when the owner of the car, Bishnu Das, had gone to a private hospital to visit his relative. His driver, Laxmidhar Sahu, was in the car.

"According to the driver, a youth pointed out to him that a few currency notes were lying on the ground. When he opened the door, he found five notes of Rs 10 denomination. As he stooped to pick them up, the youth opened the rear door of the vehicle and escaped with the cash kept in an envelope. He sped off on a motorcycle where his accomplice was waiting for him. They fled towards Rasulgarh," said a police officer.

The police checked the CCTV footage of the private hospital, but failed to find a clue, as the camera was not trained in the direction of the spot where the incident took place.

The businessman had withdrawn the money from a private bank near Big Bazaar at Kharavela Nagar.

"We have registered a case and started an investigation. We are trying to ascertain whether the goons were following the vehicle from the bank," said deputy commissioner of police Satyabrata Bhoi.

The cops suspect that a gang from Tamil Nadu is behind the incident.

In July last year, the police had arrested D. Kirti and K. Murthy, both natives of Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu, for their involvement in similar incidents in the city.

In January last year, the city police had arrested Sendil Kumar and V. Santosh, both natives of Tamil Nadu, for similar offences.

The modus operandi of these criminals is simple. They operate in groups of three or four.

While one member drops some currency notes and try to draw the attention of the victim, another is ready to make off with the cash.

Kar interrogated

The state crime branch today interrogated Himanshu Kar alias Happy, believed to be a close associate of labour official Motilal Gauda, who has been accused of fabricating a government gazette notification. Kar was interrogated for around eight hours at the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) office in Bhubaneswar. He was asked about his political connections as well.

Sources said the investigating agency decided to interrogate Kar after they found Rs 2.5 crore balance in his bank account. Kar is a Class-III employee at Capital Hospital.

Crime branch sources said an officer of DSP rank interrogated Kar to find out the source of his huge bank balance.

Kar also placed some documents pertaining to bank transactions and other documents before the investigating agency. However, he refused to say anything to the media after coming out of the EOW office this evening.

It is alleged that Kar played the role of a facilitator between Gauda and few ruling party members. It is also alleged that Kar grabbed work orders worth crores from various government agencies, including the works department, for his wife and brother with the help of some ruling party members.