Bhubaneswar, July 21: City police have detained five persons in connection with the firing and alleged snatching of cash worth Rs 10 lakh from a businessman in Unit-VI yesterday.

The police also continued interrogation of some of the employees working with Sachidanand Traders, which is owned by victim Haresh Prasad Rath.

Officials are trying to collect the call details of the staff members of the trading firm that owns the distributorship of cosmetic products of Hindustan Unilever Limited in Bhubaneswar, Khurda, Nayagarh and Cuttack.

“Following the incident we tried to identify the accused on the basis of the information given by the eyewitnesses. We have identified two such criminals from Jajpur district,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Nitinjeet Singh.

Officials also said that they would show the photographs of criminals from the album kept in police records to the nearby residents and the security guard of the firm who have seen the criminals while fleeing away. “Besides we will show these photos to Rath after he gets well, as he may identify any of them,” said the officer.

Two gun totting bike-borne youths fired at Rath in front of his office near kali temple in Unit VI area while he was getting ready to drive his Innova car to Saheed Nagar where he would have deposited the cash in a bank. The youths after firing at him snatched away the cash laden bag from him and fled towards Raj Bhavan Square through the road behind Bhubaneswar club. Rath who sustained injuries on his right palm and right abdomen was learnt to be out of danger today.

The nearby slum dwellers could see one of the accused who was pillion riding and had not worn any head gear while the driver was wearing a helmet. Several teams of police have been conducting raids at various places in the state basing on inputs from their sources.