The broken almirah at the Chandrasekharpur house and (above) Aditya, who called up police after the dacoits left. Telegraph pictures

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 30: Masked criminals decamped with 100gm of gold and Rs 12lakh in cash from the house of a businessman at Padmavati Vihar of Chandrashekharpur early this morning.

The businessman, Jiban Ballav Das, was not in town when the incident took place around 2.30am.

Das, who deals in electrical equipment, had gone to Bangalore. His wife Suchitra Sahu was in the house along with her two children and father-in-law when the robbers struck.

The criminals entered the house by breaking the window grill at the back of the building. They ensured the silence of Suchitra and her children by threatening to beat them up.

“They took away my mobile phone and asked for the key of the almirah. When I refused, they pushed me to the ground and started kicking me. They also threatened to kill my son. Later, they took away the gold ornaments that I was wearing,” said Suchitra, who sustained minor injuries.

The dacoits broke the almirah with an iron rod and decamped with the cash and ornaments. They left behind the iron rods and the pickaxe used in the crime. The entire operation took around 20 minutes.

Though Padmavati Vihar is a residential area, the criminals ensured that no one arrived to rescue the family members by threatening to harm them if they shouted. Suchitra’s six-year-old son Aditya called police after the dacoits left. “They beat up my mother and took away cash and gold ornaments. They were talking in Odia,” said Aditya.

A case has been registered at Chandrasekharpur police station. The cops have begun investigation. Sources said the criminals were aware that the businessman was not at home.

Incidents of loot and burglary have become a major concern for the city residents. Burglars had decamped with cash and gold ornaments worth over Rs 1 lakh from the house of a retired district judge Ashok Kumar Senapati within the Airfield police limits on Sunday.

Last Friday, two burglaries took place in two areas of the city. Dacoits had looted valuables, including gold ornaments worth Rs 4.2 lakh and $760 in foreign currency, from the house of Srinibash Mishra, an assistant section officer in the fisheries department at Unit-III. In another case, they decamped with gold ornaments, laptops, cell phones and a camera worth Rs 5 lakh from a house at Census Colony near Khandagiri.