Bhubaneswar: The Mumbai Crime Branch (CB) and Berhampur police on Saturday
arrested four persons from Berhampur and Chhatrapur in Ganjam district for their alleged underworld links.
They were identified as T Laxminarayan Saraf, Pradip Kumar Choudhury, Suresh Kumar Satapathy and Santosh Kumar Sahu.
“Gangster Suresh Pujari, a close associate of Chhota Ranjan, had demanded Rs 2-crore ransom from a Mumbai-based real estate businessman over phone. After tracing the call, CB sleuths found that the international call was made from Berhampur. The call was diverted to a local call through China made-SIM boxes. Subsequently, they contacted the police here who raided different places and arrested three persons from Berhampur and one from Chhatrapur. It is a new kind of crime in Odisha with international ramifications,” said Berhampur additional SP Trinath Patel.
Five SIM boxes and some fake identity cards were seized from the accused persons, he added.
Police identified Saraf as the mastermind. He along with his associates was operating the illegal telephone exchange racket under the name of a business house, S. World.