Police Arrest 4 Members Of Mine Mafia, Seize Automatic Assault Rifle In Odisha’s Khurdha

Bhubaneswar: A special squad of Odisha Police has arrested 4 members of mine mafia and seized a carbine automatic assault rifle from their possession from Khurdha.

Speaking to media persons on Monday, Bhubaneswar DCP Prateek Singh said the special squad had kept a close watch on the gang of four which was active particularly in Khurdha area. Following reliable information that the gang was planning to commit a major crime, the squad along with Tomando police conducted a raid and nabbed them.

The police recovered a 9 mm carbine automatic assault rifle, two carbine magazines, 12 rounds of 9 mm cartridges, two 7.65 mm semi-automatic pistols, two magazines, eight rounds of bullets, seven mobile phones and three four-wheelers from the accused.

The DSP said possession of the automatic assault rifle is banned under Arms Act and calls for heavy punishment. All the four arrested persons have criminal antecedents and used to work in an organised manner, he added.

The arrested persons include gang leader Sanjay Khuntia alias Bapuni, Siba Kumar Nali, Batakrushna Pani and Prakash Routray. All of them belong to Khurdha area.