Bhubaneswar, Oct. 13: More than 15 days since armed robbers looted cash worth Rs 13 lakh and gold ornaments weighing around 1kg from a UCO Bank branch at Rajmahal Square early in the morning, the police are yet to make any headway in solving the case, let alone nab the perpetrators.

The robbery is not the only case where the cops have drawn a blank. A number of cases of loot and robbery in the recent past are yet to be solved.

The cops have claimed that they have identified members of the gang in the bank robbery incident. The police said the gang was involved in similar incidents in Bengal and Jharkhand. Sources said the festive season had taken a toll on the investigation of the case.

Much of the police force was engaged to make sure there were no untoward incidents during the festival.

"The entire police force was deployed to maintain law and order during Durga Puja. Besides, specialised units were also engaged in drives against illegal liquor and apprehending habitual offenders. So, it was difficult to dedicate time to the Rajmahal incident," said a police official.

The police admitted that it would be difficult to nab the gang members as they had managed to evade arrest despite committing several robberies in other states within 18 months.

"The gang had destroyed the CCTV cameras and had even taken away the hard disks to shield their identities. We have to rely on the description provided by the eyewitnesses to identify them," the police official said.

Deputy commissioner of police Satyabrata Bhoi said investigation in the Rajmahal case was ongoing. "We will send our men to other states where similar robberies have taken place. We are hopeful of cracking the case shortly as we have already identified them," Bhoi said.

Prior to this incident, two robbers had looted cash worth Rs 5 lakh kept in a car at Laxmisagar. On August 3, the gang lured the driver by dropping Rs 10 currency notes. When he opened the door of the car, one of them got inside through the other and fled with the cash.

Similarly, on September 21 last year, unidentified robbers assaulted a private collection agent near Big Bazaar in Patia and allegedly robbed him of Rs 15 lakh in cash.

Investigation into both these cases have made little progress.

The police said most such cases were committed by gangs from outside the state, making it difficult to nab them.

"A number of organised gangs operate in Odisha and we don't have any records, which makes it even more difficult for us. These gangs don't commit crimes frequently and become inactive for long once they successfully execute a heist," said another police official.