BHUBANESWAR: The City police busted a criminal gang and arrested seven persons during a raid at Sundarpada on New Year’s eve. Three firearms and seven live ammunition were seized from them.
Police Commissioner RP Sharma said on a tip off, the Quick Action Team (QAT) raided the place where the criminals were plotting a dacoity in an apartment at Palaspalli.
Two teams of QAT and Airfield police apprehended the seven while three of their associates managed to flee. Though the dacoits were armed, there was no exchange of fire, Sharma said.
The accused were identified as Prabhat Paikray of Sagadadewli village in Nimapara, Jugal Sahoo of Gurukana in Angul district, Dharma Nayak of Daringbadi, Basant Kumar Sundara of Bolgarh in Khurda district, Kartik Bhuyan of Patapur in East Kolkata, Pranabandhu Nath and Tathagat Sahoo of Alatuma in Kamakhya Nagar. Paikray and Nath were earlier arrested in two separate cases of firing while Dharma was convicted in a murder case. One shot gun, a 9 mm pistol, one revolver, a sharp cutting weapon and three crude bombs were also seized.
On Friday, the accused were produced in a local court which remanded them in judicial custody. Search was on to arrest the other members of the gang who are still at large.
Special patrol Units for Dacoits
Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate of Police has decided to form special patrol units to apprehend dacoity gangs operating on the peripheral areas of the Capital City. These teams will gather inputs on criminals from other districts and keep a tab on their activities. The units will be manned with armed constables and led by a sub-inspector ranked officer, Police Commissioner RP Sharma said on Friday. The move to form special patrolling units have come in the wake of a surge in cases of dacoity on outer areas of the City in the last six months. There have been repeated instances of dacoity in Kalinga Vihar, Dhauli and Patia. Police suspect that criminal gangs from Puri, Nayagarh and Ganjam districts are involved in these cases. In the first phase, special patrol units will be attached to Dhauli, Tomando and Nandankanan police stations. The Commissionerate of Police would soon approach the Home Department for additional manpower and logistics to build the special units, sources said.