Bhubaneswar, March 5: Nayagarh police last night arrested three persons in connection with a robbery at Odisha Gramya Bank, Darpanarayanpur branch in Nayagarh district, 84km from here.

The police have seized Rs 12 lakh and gold ornaments weighing more than one kilogram from the accused.

On December 31, 2013, five armed robbers had looted 688 packets of gold, weighing around 14 kilogram, and Rs 12,800 from the bank.

The kingpin, Krushna Moharana, 35, and two of his other associates, Dillip Das, 25, and Cuttack-based jeweller Pankaj Karmakar, 45, have been arrested.

'Moharana had purchased a plot at Ghantikhal under Khuntuni police station. We have seized the sale deed. Besides, he had also bought a Hyva worth Rs 27 lakh and engaged it in Koida mines in Sundergarh district. We have also seized an Alto car, which was purchased by Moharana after the robbery,' said Manoranjan Mohanty, superintendent of police, Nayagarh.

The gang head had handed over his share of gold to Das after the robbery. Das had melted the yellow metal and sold it to Karmakar. The police have also seized the molten gold from Karmakar. The market value of the recovered materials would be more than Rs 1 crore.

'During preliminary investigation we had obtained the CCTV footage of the bank and were suspecting the involvement of Moharana who was involved in a number of dacoity cases in the district. He has been changing his mobile number frequently and had used at least 30 SIM cards in the last 14 months. He was arrested while he was on his way to Koida,' said a police official.

The police personnel said they would bring Moharana on remand so that other accused in the case could also be arrested. 'Though we have seized gold weighing around one kilogram, other stolen ornaments are yet to be recovered. The market value of the stolen gold would be worth Rs 5 crore,' said a police official.