BHAWANIPATNA: A Gang of dacoits was arrested by the police while planning to commit a dacoity here late on Monday. On a tip off, a police patrol team intercepted the gang of armed dacoits at Banjari Ghat and nabbed nine of them while two others managed to flee. The dacoits, all in the age group of 20 to 30 years, were planning to commit dacoity in the area.
Informing this to mediapersons on Tuesday, Kalahandi SP Sambeet Sampad said the dacoits used to loot drivers of Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh-bound trucks which passed through the route in the night. Their modus operandi was to block the ghat road using stones and then loot the drivers at gun-point. The gang was operating for the last one year at Banjari Ghat.
Police seized two bikes, a pistol with four rounds of live ammunition, four knives, lathis, five crude bombs and seven mobile phones from their possession. The dacoits were forwarded to court and remanded to judicial custody. Police are on the lookout for the absconding members of the gang.