Bhubaneswar: Amid rising cases of theft and robbery in the State Capital, two unidentified miscreants decamped with jewllery and cash worth lakhs from the banquet hall of a city-based hotel in Bhubaneswar on Sunday evening. 

One of the accused was nabbed from Puri while trying to pull off a similar feat in another wedding venue. He was  identified as Ritesh Sisodhia from Kadia village in Madhya Pradesh. Ritesh was caught while trying to decamp with a suitcase containing valuables from a banquet hall within Baliapanda police limits in Puri. A day before, he, along with another accomplice had looted gold and cash worth lakhs from a hotel in Bhubaneswar.

The crime in Bhubaneswar took place during the wedding ceremony of a doctor couple in one of the banquet halls of the hotel within Maitri Vihar police limits. Police had started investigation following a complaint by the victim family, who claimed that cash worth over Rs 2.5 lakh along with gold and diamond jewellery worth over Rs 10 lakh went missing.

As per reports, a retired corporate HR Saroj Kumar Mishra's daughter Sanjanika was getting married to Abhisekh Sadhangi from Chakradharpur in Jahrkhand. Both the groom and the bride were doctors by profession. 

On Sunday, when the marriage procession arrived, two miscreants posing as guests from the groom's side entered the venue after parking their vehicle outside. With guests coming in large numbers, one of the accused went for photoshoot with the bride while the other stayed below the dais and kept a watch. When the crowd got bigger, the accused on the dais with the bride discretely stole the gift bag where the bride's mother had kept all the cash and valuables. The duo then fled the scene. 

The incident came to light when the bride's family found that the bag was missing and reached out to the police. Official sources said the entire incident of the two accused entering and leaving the venue was captured on CCTV which helped them track the miscreants.