ANGUL: Angul police on Monday arrested nine youths for their alleged involvement in looting the house of a family which was mourning the death of a loved one at Laxmipriyapur village in the Handapa area a week back.
SP Rahul Jain said all the accused belong to Angul and are aged between 22 and 34 years. Police seized a gun, bullets, three axes, swords, 10 stolen gold earrings, other ornaments and `30,000 cash from them. The accused are members of an inter-district gang which is involved in various crimes under different police stations of the district.
On November 25, Bijay Kumar Sahoo (50) of Laxmipriyapur village died after accidentally falling from his tractor. Sahoo’s family members along with some neighbours were mourning his death when miscreants broke into their house at around 11 pm. Armed with guns, swords and iron rods, they beat up the family members and looted cash, gold ornaments and 11 mobile phones at gunpoint.
Jain said on receiving complaint, a special police team was formed to nab the dacoits. The team conducted raids at various locations in the district and succeeded in arresting all the members of the gang.
The accused are Mithun Behera, Manas Sahoo, Sushil Naik, Sunil Barik, Bikash Sethy, Lipu Behera, Bijay Parida, Alekh Bhutia and Pupu Behera. The SP said all the accused will be subjected to intense grilling to ascertain their involvement in others crimes.
In a separate incident, Talcher police arrested seven miscreants who were planning to commit dacoity at an isolated place in Kandhal village. The miscreants are reportedly involved in several criminal cases.