Bhubaneswar: Crime Branch’s Special Task Force (STF) Saturday night nabbed a criminal following an exchange of fire with a local gang at LIC field here. Leader of the gang Sanjay, wanted in a number of cases, however managed to give the cops a slip, police said.
Police have withheld the identity of the nabbed accused in order to avoid external influence on the investigation. That said, cops revealed that the man has a number of cases against him. He has received a bullet on his leg and is being interrogated at STF office here.
Police have seized a car, a blood soaked shirt and empty shells from the scene.
A source in the police said that the mining mafias and drug peddlers of the area had been in the scanner of STF team. The team had received reliable inputs suggesting that Sanjay Pradhan and Anil Baral had been running a drugs racket and illegal stone quarry business. Further, there were reports that they had been procuring contraband from Bangladesh and selling them in Khurda apart from running an extortion racket.
Acting on a tip off that the gang had assembled at LIC ground here, just three kilometers away from the SDPO’s office, the team led by STF officer Alok Jena approached them at about 10:30pm Saturday. While the criminals attempted to escape in their car, the cops blocked the road by placing their vehicles on their way. Finding no other way out, the gang fired two rounds at the police following which a gun fight ensued.
Eventually outgunned, the gang tried to escape in dark leaving behind their car. However, police managed to nab one. As a blood soaked shirt was found from the car, the police expect that at least another member must have been wounded.
Later, a number of bullet marks were found on the body of the car that has made the cops believe that the rest of the accused are also injured. The cops are keeping a tight vigil on the hospitals since they suspect that the wounded would need medical intervention.
PNN