Bhubaneswar, Sept. 15: Two goons were today arrested on the charge of entering a ladies' hostel in Chandrasekharpur and looting cash at knifepoint.

Police said that the accused, both auto-rickshaw drivers, entered the hostel by scaling its boundary wall around 3.30pm today. No security guards were deployed at the hostel when the incident took place.

'Two women were in the hostel when the miscreants entered their rooms wearing gloves and masks and looted cash from them at knifepoint. When a victim tried to raise alarm, the goons threatened her with dire consequence,' said a police officer.

However, a neighbour suspected something was wrong and called the police control room. Police personnel from the nearby outpost rushed to the hostel and nabbed both of the accused,' said a police officer.

Around 12 women, working in nearby IT firms, stay in the hostel.

The accused have been identified as Nihar Ranjan Behura, 24, and Khirod Sahoo ,28.

The police said that both the accused used to ferry the women inmates of the hostel in their auto-rickshaws.

'They were aware of the office timings of the ladies and hatched the plan accordingly. Three knives were found from the possession of the accused. We have also seized the stolen cash. We are trying to verify their antecedents,' said deputy commissioner of police Satyabrata Bhoi.

The police said that the owner of the hostel would be summoned because he had failed to implement adequate security measures.

In August 2015, the police had asked all hostel owners to engage private security guards from licensed security agencies in their establishments to ensure safety of women boarders.

They were also asked to install closed-circuit television cameras at strategic points with 30-days' back-up facility while also ensuring that they did not to breach the privacy of the inmates.