Rayagada: Police in Odisha's Rayagada have cracked a suspected robbery case within 12 hours of receiving the complaint and detained the accused after finding that the incident was staged.

According to police, Akshaya Bibar, manager of Patra Electronics, informed Rayagada police station on the phone yesterday afternoon that the firm’s accountant, Ranjit Kumar Dalai, had been robbed while on his way to deposit cash at the SBI.

Dalai was reportedly carrying Rs 2,32,000 when two unidentified men on a motorcycle allegedly snatched the money.

Police immediately reached the spot and began an investigation. During the inquiry, cops found that no such robbery had taken place.

Further questioning of Dalai revealed that he had been misappropriating money from the firm over several days for personal expenses. To cover up the missing funds, he allegedly staged the robbery story while claiming to be on his way to deposit the cash in the bank.

Police recovered Rs 1,20,000 from Dalai and detained him at the police station. Further investigation into the matter is currently underway.