Bhubaneswar: A habitual thief was arrested from Chandaka on Saturday in connection with the rape of a 26-year-old woman at gunpoint at her house in a posh locality of the city on Sept 30, with police saying that he allegedly targeted the victim’s house with the intention of committing theft, but sexually assaulted her after being confronted.During the arrest attempt, however, accused Santosh alias Sreedhar Panda (24), a resident of Ganjam district, allegedly turned violent and attacked a sub-inspector with a screwdriver. To protect himself, the officer opened fire. Two rounds were fired, and one bullet hit the accused in his leg before he was overpowered and arrested. He was taken to Capital Hospital.Police commissioner S Dev Datta Singh said that the incident was reported on the night of Sept 30, following which an extensive investigation began. “The motive for the crime was to steal. He found the victim’s house door open and entered with the intention to steal. When the woman shouted, he gagged her and allegedly raped her,” he said, adding the accused didn’t steal anything from the victim’s house and fled the spot after the incident.“He boarded a bus, then an autorickshaw and later stole a bike from Unit-I area to flee. He stayed at Chakeisiani, and was nabbed from Chandaka area this morning following an encounter,” he said.The 26-year-old victim had initially alleged that the accused had threatened her with a firearm. During investigation, police recovered the object and found it to be a lighter designed in the shape of a pistol, which the accused allegedly used to intimidate the woman.Police said a special squad was constituted after the incident was reported. Police tracked the suspect’s movements across different parts of the city, during which they analysed footage from over 300 CCTV cameras.Commissionerate police said Panda is a repeat offender with a history of property crimes. He had earlier been arrested in a mobile phone theft case registered at Khandagiri police station in 2023, as well as a house-breaking and theft case at Tamando the same year.