CUTTACK: The arrest of Chouldwar jailbreak fugitive Raja Sahani has dealt a severe blow to the large and active inter-state organised crime syndicate, police commissioner S Dev Datta Singh said on Friday.
Sahani (39), a native of Lohianagar in Bihar’s Begusarai district, had been on the run since his escape from Choudwar jail. A dreaded criminal, he frequently changed his locations, identity and occupations to evade arrest. After fleeing Odisha, he moved across Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, operating under aliases such as Kamlesh Pandey and Subham.
He was apprehended by a special team of the Commissionerate police from Rishikesh in Uttarakhand following a sustained operation, on Wednesday.
According to Singh, Sahani and his associates were involved in a robbery at a jewellery showroom in Mysuru in December and had also attempted similar crimes at two locations near Visakhapatnam. He is wanted in 28 criminal cases.
“Sahani and the other accused Madhukant Rana are members of a large inter-state gang comprising over 100 criminals from different states. The gang deployed a specialised technical team to assist in executing robberies and particularly targeted jewellery establishments. The technical team would conduct reconnaissance at least 15 days prior to the crime, gathering details such as the distance of the showroom from the nearest police station and the number of employees. They also assisted in hacking GPS tracking systems of targeted establishments,” he said.
Police from different states are expected to interrogate Sahani in cases linked to the gang. The gang reportedly disposed of looted jewellery in states other than where the crimes were committed. Mysuru police have already arrested one member involved in disposing the stolen valuables.
Cuttack DCP Khilari Rishikesh Dnyandeo said Sahani’s arrest would aid in gathering more information in connection with a robbery at a jewellery shop in Panikoili in Jajpur district, in which two persons were killed.
Sahani has been produced before a court and will be taken on remand for further interrogation in connection with the jailbreak case, police said.