Cuttack: Badambadi police Saturday claimed to have arrested seven members of a highway dacoit gang being run by associates of jailed gangsters Sushil Dhalasamanta and his brother Sushant Dhalasamanta.
They used to target well-known business establishments and petrol pumps along national highways. Besides, they used to extort money from trucks carrying cattle and sometimes escort the cattle smuggling trucks and charge money for their ‘service’, the police said.
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While the seven gangsters were arrested near Shakti Nagar petrol pump, two others had managed to escape. A revolver, two bullets, a sword, an auto rickshaw and two high-speed motorcycles used in robberies were seized from them.
The gang was behind several loots on Cuttack-Bhubaneswar National Highway 16, said inspector-in-charge Biranchi Narayan Pati. According to police, the gang members were preparing a blueprint to loot a petrol pump at Shakti Nagar along the Link Road when Badambadi police, on a tip-off, raided the place and nabbed them.
They are identified as: Jitendra Samal alias Babuna of Gopalsahi in Bidanasi; Debasish Panda alias Lipu of Netaji Nagar in Madhupatna; Mitesh Kumar Nayak alias Fukul of Taanlasahi in Tulasipur; Aditya Giri alias Babu of Sheikh Bazar; Santosh Sahu alias Tutu of Khannagar; and Salman Bux alias Mitu of Paniapada in Shankarpur.
“The brother-in-law of Mohammad Areef, sharpshooter of Dhalasamanta brothers, is the gang’s mastermind. He and another member managed to escape during the raid. While Areef is lodged in Choudwar jail, his brother-in-law was running the gang under his direction,” Pati said.
“They used to charge between Rs 2,000 and 10,000 to escort a cattle truck. Besides, they sometimes extort money from the truckers,” Pati added.
“Mitesh has five cases pending against him at Bidanasi police station. We are examining the criminal antecedents of other arrested persons. Raids are being conducted at various locations to nab Areef’s brother-in-law and another member of the gang,” the IIC added.
The arrested were produced before the sub-divisional judicial magistrate court which sent them to judicial custody. PNN
