KATHMANDU; In a glaring example of rising crime in the Kathmandu Valley, a gang of masked robbers on Thursday night targeted the house belonging to a senior police official and made away with cash and property worth Rs 1.2 million. The police said the robbers decamped with Rs 45,000 in cash, 18 tolas of gold ornaments and four mobile phone sets from the house in Kadga Bhadrakali, Hattigaunda. According to the police, the knife-wielding gang robbed the cash and gold ornaments, taking the kin of SSP Jaya Bahadur Chand under control. SSP Chand is the chief of Regional Police Office, Nepalgunj. Earlier, he was posted at Metropolitan Police Crime Division, Hanumandhoka. Mira (SSP's wife) and her children were preparing to go to bed when the robbers stormed into the house. The robbers were said to be seven in number, a police official said. SSP Rana Bahadur Chand, in-charge, MPCD, today visited the family and acquired information about the incident. The police have intensified a search operation to nab the robbers, who have been at large. Meanwhile, SSP Chand has returned to Kathmandu from Nepalgunj.