Bhubaneswar, Nov. 27: The crime branch has started an inquiry into the reported disappearance of gold ingots weighing 16kg from police custody.

The gold was seized by the police during a raid on Emar Mutt in March last year when silver ingots weighing 18 tonnes were also confiscated. After questioning the mutt’s chief Mahant Rajgopal Ramanuj Das, the police also seized gold from some local businessmen.

Das had admitted to have received the gold in exchange of 37 silver ingots weighing about 1.3 tonnes. However, in the wake of the seizure, it was alleged that a number of gold ingots had gone missing from the police custody.

Sri Jagannath Sena today demanded that steps be taken to protect the silver and gold ingots. “The role of the inquiring authorities is also in question. The CBI should intervene in the matter,” said Sena convener Priyadarhan Patnaik.

However, crime branch inspector-general Arun Ray said: “I can assure that all gold and silver ingots are intact. It’s Lord Jagannath’s property. We are taking care of its safety following the high court’s order. However, we will move the high court seeking permission to shift it to any of treasuries of a scheduled bank.”

But the officer admitted that it would be difficult to know the exact amount of the gold and silver in the possession of the mutt and whether some of it had found its way to the market before the police raided the place. Ray said he had visited Puri to ascertain whether the ingots in police custody were intact or not.

The theft of silver bricks from the mutt had come to light following the arrest of two labourers, Barun Nayak and Akshya Nayak, on February 25 last year from Dhenkanal. They had been charged with stealing silver bricks worth Rs 26 lakh. Later, the police on February 26 raided Emar Mutt and unearthed 522 sliver bricks, each weighing between 35 and 38kg. According to rough estimates, the entire treasure weighed more than 18 tonnes. The bricks were more than 150 years old and bore marks of the British era.

The bricks had been stacked in four wooden trunks lying in a dilapidated room on the mutt premises. Each brick was valued at Rs 18 to Rs 20 lakh in the open market. The entire treasure was worth around Rs 90 crore. However, an empty box found at the mutt led to suspicion that the bricks were being stolen from there.

Police had also arrested the mahant of the Mutt Rajgopal Ramanuj Das. However, Mahant was released after the high court intervened in the matter.