BERHAMPUR: Finding itself on a sticky wicket over a recent spurt in violent crimes, Ganjam police has arrested 18 criminals and seized 17 illegal firearms with 66 live ammunition from them.
Addressing mediapersons at Chhatrapur on Sunday, IG (Southern range) Niti Shekhar and Ganjam SP Suvendu Patra said the crackdown was part of preventive policing in the district. The 18 criminals include members of an organised crime syndicate.
Patra said Sheragada police arrested six criminals and seized five country-made pistols and 22 live ammunition from them. Similarly, Kotinada police arrested five criminals and seized four pistols and 16 live ammunition. Aska police arrested four criminals and seized three pistols and 12 ammunition. Bhanjanagar, Polasara and Chamakhandi police arrested one criminal each. The arrested criminals are history-sheeters, he informed.
Police suspect that the seized weapons were procured from outside Odisha. Special teams will be formed to trace and dismantle the supply chain. Police are also mulling seizure of properties acquired illegally by the criminals.
Police have invoked the newly introduced section 111 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita which deals with organised crime along with the Arms Act and other relevant provisions, Patra said and added that patrolling will be intensified in rural areas in the coming days.
Notably, the district witnessed seven murders in the last one week. On May 1, a 17-year-old girl was reportedly murdered at her home by a stalker in Karapalli village within Gopalpur police limits in Ganjam district. On April 29, a 30-year-old man was found murdered on the roadside with his throat slit in K Nuagaon police limits of Berhampur.
Similarly, an elderly man was beaten to death by his son over a family dispute at Purusottampur in the district on April 28. In the night on April 26, two siblings were allegedly murdered and their bodies set ablaze in Beguniapada.
The same night, a 30-year-old man was reportedly killed by his elder brother over a property dispute in Bramhanapadar village within Tarasing police limits.
A four-year-old girl was raped and murdered in an under-construction anganwadi centre at Khalingi village in Sanakhemundi block on April 25.