Kendrapada: A court in Kendrapada district on Friday sentenced three men to two years of rigorous imprisonment for duping a villager and stealing gold ornaments on the pretext of cleaning them with chemicals. Judicial magistrate first class (JMFC), Aul, Deban Satyadarshi Nanda, imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on each of the convicts. In default of payment, each will have to undergo an additional one month of imprisonment.Durodhan Sahoo (28), Pramod Sahoo (30) and Prasant Sahoo (27) of Dharmasala visited the house of the victim, Bikash Kumar Mohapatra, at Bhamanda village under Aul police station limits on April 5, claiming they could clean gold ornaments using chemicals. According to the prosecution, the trio placed the ornaments in a container, poured water and a chemical powder into it, and covered the container with a lid in the presence of the house owner. Before leaving, they instructed Mohapatra not to open the lid for 10 minutes. When he opened the container, he found that the gold ornaments were replaced and realised he had been cheated. Mohapatra lodged an FIR with the police, alleging that gold ornaments, worth around Rs 2 lakh, were stolen.Following an investigation, police arrested all three accused and filed a chargesheet. Delivering the judgement, the court convicted the accused under various sections of the BNS. The conviction was based on the testimonies of seven prosecution witnesses and documentary evidence presented during the trial. Public prosecutor Pradeep Kumar Ray said the prosecution proved the charges through oral and documentary evidence, resulting in the conviction and sentencing of the three accused.
