Berhampur: Three more members of an inter-state burglary gang were arrested Friday in connection with looting a jewellery shop in Odisha’s Berhampur city September 3, police said.
With the fresh arrests, altogether nine people have been apprehended in connection with looting gold and silver ornaments worth Rs 80 lakh from a jewellery outlet near Kamapalli in Baidyanathpur police station area on the night of September 3.
The trio, identified as Wahajuddin (44) of Seohara in Bijinor district and Himansu Verma (24) of Orai in Uttar Pradesh, and Sanjay Ghildayal (38) of Kotdwar in Uttarakhand, were arrested from Berhampur when they were in the city to commit another dacoity, Berhampur SP Sarvan Vivek M said.
Around 10 kg of silver and Rs 1.57 lakh in cash were seized from the trio, the officer said.
Besides, house-breaking instruments, including gas cutter, a scooter and five mobile phone sets were also seized from their possession, he said.
Earlier, on September 21, police had arrested six members of the gang and seized Rs 1.63 lakh in cash from their possession.
They were identified as Mayadhar Behera (42) of Sikiri in Odisha’s Ganjam district, the mastermind, Manjit (42) of Haryana, Suraj (42) and Vipin Kumar (40) of Uttar Pradesh, Guruprit Singh (27) of Punjab and Vikash Kumar (35) of Dehradun in Uttarakhand.
After looting the jewellery outlet in Berhampur, the accused persons had fled to New Delhi but when they returned here to commit another major crime, police nabbed them, the SP said.
“We are investigating whether any more persons were involved in the incident,” the officer said.
Police sources said that Mayadhar Behera had come in contact with the other accused during his term in Tihar Jail in connection with an NDPS Act case and had invited them to come to Berhampur, arranging for them a rented house in Gate Bazaar area.
PTI