BERHAMPUR: Six firearms with five rounds of live bullets, which were being used by former Congress MLA Ramesh Jena, have been seized by the police.
While four of the firearms were seized from Bhubaneswar, the remaining two were found from Bhabinipur on the outskirts of the City.
SP Asish Singh said Jena’s aide Santosh Behera, who was arrested from Bhubaneswar recently, was brought on remand by Berhampur police. During interrogation, he stated that the firearms were hidden in Jyotsna Apartment in Bhubaneswar. A police team took Santosh to the flat that was used by Jena in Jyotsna Apartment on Wednesday where four revolvers and bullets were found hidden in a flush tank. Police also seized two ID cards of Jena and some documents related to land grabbing and extortion from the flat.
Similarly, another police team recovered two more revolvers kept inside a liquor outlet owned by Jena’s father Arakhita at Bhabinipur. Santosh informed police that the firearms were procured from Munger in Bihar. A police team would rush to Munger for further investigation.
Meanwhile, another land grabbing case was slapped on Ramesh, Arakhita, BeMC Corporator R Murali and a realtor Bighneswar Sahu alias Buna. Ramesh and others had forcibly taken possession of two acres of land at Nimakhandi and converted it into housing plots in 2014. On Thursday, Ramesh was produced at JMFC Court at Aska. Police took him on two-day remand for questioning him in tender fixing cases.
Police gathered more clues on Jena’s crime empire and more persons will be nabbed soon, the SP added. Investigation into the crime of others arrested along with Jena is continuing, the SP said, adding that a crusher unit at Narendrapur, owned by Krupasindhu Mudali, the sand mafia, has been sealed.