Bhubaneswar: Police have arrested 11 members of an inter-state gang, which was involved in theft of iron pipes, from Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
The accused have been identified as Ramesh Chandra Sahu (52) of GGP Colony in Mancheswar in Bhubaneswar, Sandip Kumar Agrawal alias Babulu (45) of Choudwar in Cuttack, Alok Bhola of Sikiri village in Ganjam who lived in Bhubaneswar’s Bharatpur, Sk Rahim alias Raja (37) of Bhubaneswar’s Chandaka, Papu Bhuyan (21) of Patrapada, Srikanta Maharana alias Patia (23) of Godipada in Nayagarh who lived in Patrapada, Rajkumar Parida (32) of Badambadi in Cuttack, Bhagirathi Nayak alias Benu of Kotapala village in Khurda, Kartik Chandra Subudhi (34) of Sarua village in Baghamari of Khurda and Rasmiranjan Dash alias Chiku (29) of Brajabiharipur village in Cuttack who lived in CDA Sector 1 of Cuttack and the main accused Sudhir Behera alias Mantu (34) of Chandaka.
According to police, the gang used to steal pipes from rural areas in Khurda, Rayagada, Ganjam, Kandhamal and Cuttack districts where the water pipeline work of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation department was going on.
They were transporting the stolen pipes in trucks to places outside the state where pipe melting work is done. They used fake challans for the purpose. As of now, they have sold pipes worth about Rs 1 crore.
“During investigation, we found that there are 15 members of the gang. We have arrested 11 and the rest members will be arrested soon,” Deputy Commissioner Police Prateek Singh told the media.
He said the main accused Sudhir Behera is a resident of Chandaka. He was identifying the spots where pipeline work was going on and theft could be done easily. He then arranged transportation and workers to cut the pipes.
“Every member had a different role. Some forged the documents while others arranged the labour. Two transporters, Ramesh Chandra Sahu and Sandeep Agarwal, also worked with them and helped in transportation,” the DCP added.
Police also seized Rs 20,000 cash, an auto-rickshaw, a motorcycle and 10 mobile phones from their possession.
