A middle-aged man, posing himself as a journalist, was arrested while stealing coal from a goods train on Saturday night. Three of his associates were arrested and at least 35 bags of coal were seized by the Railway Protection Force. The accused was identified as Ashok Sahu who claimed to be a scribe with a popular Odia daily. His claims were found to be untrue.
A team led by RPF Inspector Barun Behera, arrested Sahu along with his accomplices during the wee hours when they were loading the coal onto a vehicle. The four had unloaded the coal from a goods train late in the night and dumped the bags in the bushes. They were waiting for the dawn to pick up the items when they came under the raid. The theft occurred near Radhakishorepur station between Choudwar and Khuntuni. Since there is a road overbridge in the region, train slows down making it easy for thieves to unload the bags.
When he was nabbed, Sahu identified himself as a journalist and challenged RPF with dire consequences. Behera said there were several allegations against him in the area. His associates were identified as Pratap Behera, Manguli Jena and Niranjan Das, all residents of Khuntuni.