Bhubaneswar: Bargarh police on Monday arrested nine members of an inter-state gang mainly involved in the robbery of gas cylinders.
According to an official press release, the arrested persons include three receivers.
The accused have been identified as Daniel Kerketta alias Munda (27), Asish Singh (24), Debasish Senapati @ Suna (26), Dileswar Parida (42), Sanjaya Pradhan (35), Tapas Kumar Gartia (23), Bibekananda Sahu (31), Kalua @ Firoj Khan (43)(receiver), and Naresh Kumar Sahu (42)(receiver), the release said.
Police have seized about 500 stolen gas cylinders of different companies, one truck, one motorcycle, eight mobile phones, one bhujali, four iron rods, and one cutter, the release said.
According to the release, on December 4, 2023, Sidhartha Shankar Panda of Attabira filed a complaint that on the intervening night of December 3/4, 2024 some unknown culprits committed robbery and took away 158 filled Indane gas cylinders from his authorized gas godown located at Attabira by breaking the door and by assaulting the security guard deployed at the godown.
Police formed three special teams to detect the case and nab the culprits. The police conducted raids at all probable places and verified the movements of active criminals and their complicity in this case.
Acting on a reliable tip-off on January 15, Attabira police detained a vehicle loaded with stolen gas cylinders. On verification, police ascertained that the accused persons after committing theft of gas cylinders from a godown in Chhattisgarh were trying to escape towards Sambalpur and were caught red-handed by Bargarh police. The accused persons confessed to having been involved in gas cylinder thefts in different districts of Bargarh, Sambalpur, Sonepur, Jharsuguda, and Balangir as well as bordering state.
Police during the investigation seized about 500 stolen gas cylinders of different companies and apprehended nine persons including three receivers.
