Three youths were arrested by Balichandrapur police on charges of robbing commuters on national highway, police said. Police also seized Rs 10,000, a motorcycle, three mobile phones and weapons from the accused. Two others are absconding.
The arrested have been identified as Ramakanta Parida (27) of Khalagaon village, Rakesh Mohanty (25) of Oland village and Ranjan Baral (26) of Rahama village, all from Jagatsinghpur district.
According to the FIR filed by a truck driver with the Balichandrapur police, three motorcycle-borne youths intercepted his truck at Nalipur chhak on NH-5 (A) on Saturday night and looted Rs 10,000 and a mobile phone from him after injuring him with a bhujali. The incident occurred while he was returning to Manguli along with his truck from Paradip after unloading the consignment there. The injured trucker informed police about the incident over phone, the FIR maintained.
Balichandrapur police team led by IIC Asit Mohanty chased the trio and caught them near Bhakuda chhak. “Three youths were arrested in connection with the incident while two others of their gang are still at large. We nabbed them from Bhakuda on the NH,” said Mohanty. The accused were forwarded to court and remanded them in judicial custody after their bail pleas were rejected.