5 Highway Looters Arrested, Valuables Recovered In Odisha’s Balasore

Balasore: Police have arrested a gang of 5 highway robbers and seized looted items from their possession in Odisha’s Balasore district.

Speaking to media persons on Sunday, Balasore SP Sagarika Nath said following complaints of loot of cash and valuable items from the drivers and passengers of the vehicles plying on the National Highway, the police had formed a special team to nab the looters.

The arrested persons have been identified as Gajendra Das, Dharmendra Parida, Ripun Jena, Suryakant Das and Akash Lenka. Three other members of the gang are absconding and a manhunt has been launched to trace them, the SP said.

The looted items recovered from the gang included 16 mobile phones, one laptop and 4 money purses besides cash. The police have also seized a car, a pickup van, two two-wheelers, two pen drives and ATM cards from their possession.

The SP said the gang members used to threaten the commuters with guns or lethal weapons and loot valuable items from them.

All the arrested persons have several cases pending against them in different police stations. While Gajendra faces 14 cases, Dharmendra and Ripun have 9 and 8 criminal cases pending against respectively. Suryakant has 3 cases and Akash 2 cases pending, the SP said.