Jajpur: Lootera gang busted; booty recovered

Jajpur: The Dharmasala police claimed to have busted a lootera gang and arrested five members during a raid here on Sunday. They recovered 100 gm gold jewellery, Rs 20,000 cash, a four-wheeler, two bikes, a revolver and some live cartridges.

The accused have been identified as Liptikanta Samal alias Babu, Suraj Majhi alias Siraj, Sridhar Pradhan alias Sidhia, Manas Rout and Tapan Behera.

According to the police, one Pintu Nayak of Khandiabandi village had lodged an FIR in the police station following a theft in his house on April 9. Based on the complaint, the police investigated and were successful in nabbing the looters after nearly 15 days.

The police said, all the accused were involved in at least six cases of dacoity, snatching and highway robbery. They were wanted in the cases registered at Dharmasala and Barachana police stations in the district.

The accused were produced in the local court and sent to judicial custody after their bail pleas were rejected.