Huge cash, jewellery haul from criminal

BHUBANESWAR - A man allegedly involved in several cases of murder, extortion and illegal mining was arrested Saturday in Orissa’s mineral-rich Keonjhar district and a huge amount of cash, including some foreign currency, was seized from him, police said.

Jitendra Jha, 36, was arrested from his house in the district’s Barbil town and around Rs.1 crore in cash, some Thai currency and gold ornaments worth more than Rs.25 lakh were seized from him, district Superintendent of Police A.K.Singh told IANS.

“We have also seized about nine bank passbooks, 25 mobile SIM cards, and a revolver with six cartridges,” he said.

According to Singh, Jha, originally from Jharkhand and living in Barbil town for over 10 years now, was allegedly involved in two murder cases in the region and had acquired huge wealth by means of extortion, and illegal mining activities mainly during past two-three years.

Keonjhar is about 235 km from Bhubaneswar.