Bhubaneswar: With the arrest of five persons, the Commissionerate Police on Tuesday said it has busted a self-styled ‘bouncer gang’ involved in issuing threats and assaulting people to vacate and gain possession of land in Bhubaneswar.
Five members of the gang involved in forcible acquisition of land by terrorising people have been arrested by Chandrasekharpur Police.
The arrested persons have been identified as Padia Sahu, Rashmi Parida, Satyabrat Behera, and Samir Barik. They were arrested on the basis of a complaint filed by one Manas Behera, who runs a construction company in the city.
The complainant had recently alleged that some miscreants came to his land located in Chandrasekharpur area, attacked him and his staff, and removed them from the site. The miscreants also snatched money from them.
Following the complaint, a case was registered and during investigation it was found that two construction companies were involved in a dispute over a piece of land, Bhubaneswar DCP Prateek Singh said.
Both two companies were claiming ownership over the land. One company hired the bouncer gang to remove Manas Behera and take possession of the area.
The police first identified the miscreants who were local residents involved in issuing threats. One Ajit Mohanty, a staff of the construction company had approached the accused to get possession of the land, the DCP said.
During the probe it was found that the accused were projecting themselves as ‘criminals’ having major links. They were also involved in threatening people, lending money on interest, and other forcible collections. As they had unleashed terror, people were reluctant to lodge complaint, he said.
The police have seized the snatched money from the accused. Other associates of the gang will be arrested soon and stern action will be taken against them, police said.
