CUTTACK: Mangalabag police busted a two-member inter-district car lifting gang and arrested three persons including the receiver of the stolen vehicles on Wednesday. The cops also seized two stolen cars and another vehicle of the receiver.
The arrested are Bikram Biswal alias Lipu (32) of Motigram in Jagatsinghpur, Manoj Kumar Sethy alias Manu (33) of Bhairipur in Dhenkanal and the receiver Pankaj Kumar Jena alias Fusi (40) of Kantia in Kendrapara.
The gang first hired cars and then stole the vehicles after tranquillising the drivers.
DCP Sanjeev Arora said one Sanjay Kumar Das of Odapada in Jagatsinghpur had lodged a complaint with Mangalabag police on January 22 alleging that an unknown person had hired his car to go to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. On reaching SCB, the person offered Das drinks laced with sedative and fled away with the car and the latter’s mobile phone.
On the basis of the complaint, Lipu was arrested and the stolen mobile phone was recovered from him.
Later, Manu and Fusi was nabbed. Police also recovered another car which the accused had also in the same manner from Telkoi area in Keonjhar district on December 31, 2016. Fusi’s personal car which was used in the crime, has also been seized, Arora added.
The accused trio was forwarded to the court on Thursday.