Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police here Thursday arrested five members of a notorious robbers’ gang involved in at least two dozens loot cases under the City limits. Police said 40 gold chains weighing 400 gram, Rs 2 lakh cash, four motorcycles and five mobile phones were seized from the accused. Three members of the gang are still at large, they added.
Police Commissioner Sanjeeb Panda said the accused were identified as Ayaz Mahamad, 20, Debasis Barik, 19, Sibaprasad Barik, 23; residents of Jatni area, Ayusman Tripathy, 27, a native of Rourkela, Rajat Kumar Nanda, a resident of Delang. Primarily, they targeted pedestrians and motorists on the National Highway for snatching, especially gold chains. They were also involved in snatching cases along the highway crossing the City, connecting Angul, Bhadrak and Puri, he added.
Elucidating the modus operandi of the gang, Panda said, “In a bid to give a slip to the cops, the gang members used high-end sports bikes for looting gold chains and valuables from victims. Besides, they used tampered number plates on their motorcycle to hoodwink police.
Following the loot, they used to dispose of the stolen gold ornaments with a different goldsmith each time to avoid the crackdown.” Furthermore, Panda said the miscreants splurged money on costly items including branded shoes, clothes and bikes, which they earned by selling the booty. The Commissionerate Police have booked the five under relevant sections of IPC and produced them before a local court Thursday.
DEBADURLLAV HARICHANDAN, OP