Bhubaneswar: Five notorious criminals were arrested while hatching a conspiracy to commit armed robbery in Bhubaneswar during the Puja season.
Acting on a tip-off, a team of police personnel carried out raid in Khandagiri area and arrested the five criminals. The police have also seized two bikes, a sword, chili powder and knife from their possession.
The accused have been identified as Murali Behera and Manas Pradhan of Puri district, Shankar Dakua of Ganjam, Mantu Paikray of Baramunda of Bhubaneswar and Akash Nayak of Nayagarh district.
Police said the five accused came to know each other in the jail. However, after being released from prison, they had planned to work in a gang. They were arrested while planning for their loot programme during the upcoming festival season.
During verification of record, police found that the arrested youths are history-sheeters and have many criminal cases pending at different police stations of Puri, Nayagarh, Kendrapara and Bhubaneswar.
There were 23 cases registered in the name of Mantu Paikray while three cases against Murali and 3 cases were registered in the name of Shankar, police added.
