Bhubaneswar: Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar police in a joint operation have busted an inter-state armed dacoit gang with the arrest of five of its members.
Police have seized one INSAS Excalibur rifle, 26 rounds of 5.56 mm live ammunition, two magazines, one new tractor, one new motorcycle, mobile phones and other household articles and Rs 50,000 in cash from them, an official press release issued by the Mayurbhanj police said.
The tractor and motorcycle were purchased from the proceed of the crime, the release added.
While four of the accused persons hail from the neighbouring state of Jharkhand, one hails from Odisha.
During the investigation, the accused persons confessed their involvement in several cases in the districts of Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar.
According to the press release, the accused persons have been found to be involved in many armed robbery cases earlier and they had also served jail terms in various jails in Jharkhand and Odisha.
In the Rs 11 lakh loot from a trader at Hatabadada Haat under Rairangpur Rural police station limits on May 25, the accused persons got information from a local informant that the victim usually came with a hefty amount of money to weekly haat (weekly market).
In the preceding weekly haat the accused persons conducted a thorough recee of and chalked out the plan.
On the day of occurrence, they all came together at Bara Jhameri along the Odisha-Jharkhand border and after receiving clearance proceeded towards Hatabadada Haat by using a less frequented road.
After reaching the spot, one of them went to the victim and others asked bystanders to go away from that location. Once sure of their escape path they tried to snatch the money bag from the victim.
When the victim resisted, they opened fire on him and ran away with Rs 11 lakhs in cash. While escaping they again fired a few rounds to create panic among the crowd.
Following the incident, a case was registered at Rairangpur Rural police station on May 25 under sections 302/394 of IPC. 
Multiple dedicated teams comprising officers from Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts were formed under the guidance of Superintendent of Police Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar for early detection of the accused persons in the case.
Mayurbhanj DFSL team visited the occurrence spot and gathered some vital evidence. Cyber Cell Mayurbhanj also played important role in the detection and tracking of accused persons.
Finally, these police teams with the help of Jharkhand police got technical input and vital clues from local informers and were able to ascertain the identity of the accused persons leading to their arrests.
Further investigation and efforts are underway to apprehend the remaining accused persons at the earliest.
