ROURKELA: Three criminals of the notorious Chandey Nayak gang were injured with gunshot wounds in brief police encounters at two places under the Lahunipada and Chandiposh police limits in the early hours of Sunday.
Simultaneously, five other criminals of the gang were also arrested by the Rourkela police during a special drive. Three firearms, ammunition, a sport utility vehicle (SUV) and cash were recovered from them.
Sources said that in the backdrop of a series of armed loot incidents in the Koida Mining Circle (KMC) and Bonai sub-division, special teams of the Rourkela Police District (RPD) were making sustained efforts to nab the culprits. During the investigation, police obtained vital clues about the involvement of the notorious gang led by criminal Chandey alias Chanda Nayak.
Acting on a tip-off about the presence of three gang members, the special police team waited near Rajamunda under the Lahunipada police limits. When police tried to stop their vehicle, the criminals opened fire, and in retaliatory firing, one dacoit, identified as Prasad Ram of Khunti district in Jharkhand, was injured in the leg. Two others escaped with the vehicle.
Police chased and tried to intercept them near the Chandiposh–Lathikatha border, where the criminals again launched a brief gunfight targeting the approaching police personnel. In retaliatory police firing, Rajesh Singh and the gang leader, Chanda Nayak, were injured in the legs.
DIG of Police (Western Range) Brijesh Kumar Rai, confirming the arrest of the three dacoits in the two brief gunfights, said all the injured criminals were shifted to Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH) and their condition was stable. He said five other members of the gang were also nabbed from other areas, adding that the gang’s involvement in seven recent loot cases had been established.
Rourkela SP Nitesh Wadhwani said the gang, mostly consisting of criminals from adjacent Jharkhand, was operating with the help of local criminals. “The gang members were involved in multiple armed loot incidents in Banko under K Balang police limits, and loots at multiple transport offices in Barsuan and Koida police limits of the Bonai sub-division. The gang was actively operating in the bordering areas of Odisha and Jharkhand. Further investigation is underway, and more details are awaited,” he added.