BERHAMPUR: Pretending to be cops, a gang of 15 armed criminals forced their way into homes in Baligata village to search for ganja in Kandhamal’s Phiringia on Thursday night. Eight of the fake cops were caught by villagers while the rest seven managed to flee taking advantage of the darkness.
At around 8.30 pm, 15 persons wearing police uniforms reached Baligata in vehicles with beacon lights and asked villagers to hand over the cannabis stock in their houses. When residents denied having any ganja with them, the fake cops entered some houses forcibly for a search. However, they could not find the contraband in the houses.
Disappointed, the gang started to loot the houses. When they forcibly took gold ornaments, Rs 50,000 cash and other valuables from a house, villagers became suspicious and contacted Phiringia police. To their shock, they were informed that no police personnel were sent to their village.
The angry villagers then pounced on the group of fake cops and managed to overpower eight of them. The rest fled in the vehicles. The eight miscreants were given a sound thrashing before being handed over to Phiringia police.
Three guns, one pistol, four sets of police uniforms and several weapons were seized from their possession. Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Suprasanna Mallik said of the eight arrested, three are notorious criminals from Cuttack identified as Ashok Raut, Sipul Kabi and Manabhanjan Pradhan. The rest five are Joseph Dayal, Shankar Dayal, Angad Dayal, Kirtim Dayal, and Ranjan Sahani of Kandhamal.
The SDPO said posing as cops, the miscreants had planned to take cannabis by threatening the villagers. When they did not find the contraband in the houses, they started to loot valuables. Sources said as a number of villagers in the region are involved in ganja trade, Phiringia police has recently launched a drive against the illegal practice. The 15 miscreants tried to take advantage of the situation by posing as fake cops. Mallik said the eight arrested persons were produced in court on Friday. A manhunt has been launched to nab the rest seven robbers involved in the incident.