Jajpur: Police have arrested 9 members of a gang including a youth BJD leader who were allegedly involved in stealing trucks from Odisha’s Jajpur district.
As per reports, the police came to know about the gang while investigating a complaint filed about stealing of a truck from a stone crusher unit at Bhadanga under Dhramasala police station in the district. Acting on the complaint filed on September 11, police started investigation and kept a watch on the watchman of the crusher unit, Bikram Nayak alias Kalia.
The police came to know about Kalia’s link with another man, identified as Ramesh Parida of Neulapur and apprehended them. During interrogation, Kalia and Ramesh revealed the entire racket and its Kolkata link.
On the basis of information provided by the duo, the police nabbed three persons who were coming in a car from Kolkata for stealing truck at Dharmasala on Monday. Later, the police arrested Biswajit Samal, Soumyashri Jena, Mohammad Abdul and Jajpur district vice-president of BJD Yuva Janata Dal Aswajit Rout of Sunguda under Badachana police limits. Besides, three persons from Bihar have also been arrested in connection with the racket.
Speaking to media persons on Tuesday, Jajpur SDPO Pramod Kumar Malik said the arrested persons used to steal truck from Jajpur and take those to Kolkata where they dismantled the vehicle and sold its parts at cheap rate. The police were on the lookout of the gang which was running the racket for a long time, he added.
The police have also seized Rs 2.45 lakh from possession of the arrested persons and forwarded them to court, the SDPO said.
