SAMBALPUR: A major case of theft involving nearly 30 tonne of steel wire rods worth about Rs 35 lakh has been solved with the arrest of two persons, said Burla police on Sunday.
The accused are Pradip Tripathy (53) of Shantinagar in Budharaja and Nisar Ahemad (40), a scrap dealer from Sonapali under Dhanupali police limits.
Police said on January 17, a complaint was lodged by one Premsai Khuntia (30), a resident of Forest Park in Bhubaneswar who hails from Sohela in Bargarh, alleging that a truck left Rungta Mines in Dhenkanal carrying 27 bundles of mild steel wire rods weighing 29.940 tonne to Raipur on January 11.
Though the consignment was scheduled to reach Raipur by January 13, the truck failed to arrive even by January 16. GPS tracking revealed that on January 12, the truck was parked near the Reliance Jio petrol pump at Goshala after which both the GPS signal and the driver’s mobile phone were switched off.
During investigation, police found that the truck driver contacted Pradip to illegally dispose of the material. Pradip allegedly coordinated with Nisar and the loaded truck was taken to an isolated area near Goshala where the steel was unloaded. The driver, Jhanak Nayak, later fled with the truck and abandoned it near Sohela Degree College in Bargarh.
Police have seized the truck and the stolen steel consignment. Efforts are on to trace the absconding driver.