Bhawanipatna: In a major crackdown Saturday, police busted a gang of dacoits and arrested nine of its members in connection with an incident that had taken place under Jaipatna block in Kalahandi district June 10.
According to a source, the dacoity gang had decamped with several gold ornaments including Rs 5.85 lakh in cash from the house of a school teacher in the incident.
The nine armed persons had barged into the house of Bhaktaram Gontia at Nuaguda village under Pratappur panchayat in the district. The dacoits had looted the gold ornaments and cash by attacking the family with sharp weapons.
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Later, the teacher lodged an FIR with Jaipatna police. A joint team of police officials from Jaipatna and Dharamgarh launched a probe leading to the arrests. One member of the gang hails from Kalahandi and the others are from Koraput and Nabarangpur districts, an official of the Jaipatna police station said.
Five more members of the gang including the mastermind are absconding. The others will also be arrested soon, Jaipatna police station IIC Rasmita Pradhan said.
PNN