Baripada: Police have arrested three members of an inter-state transformer theft gang in Mayurbhanj district and seized two cars along with copper coils allegedly extracted from two stolen transformers.
More than 20 cases linked to the gang are pending at different police stations in Mayurbhanj and other districts, police said.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, Betnoti SDPO Minati Biswal said the arrests were made by Morada police during a vehicle-checking operation near Shirshapala Chhak under Chitrada police outpost in the early hours of November 6.
At around 3.15 am, two cars were intercepted while travelling from Rasgobindapur towards Baripada. During the search, police found valuable transformer copper coils, cutters and other equipment inside the vehicles, raising suspicion.
On questioning the occupants, police apprehended three youths, while three others managed to flee. The arrested persons were subsequently taken to Morada police station for interrogation, which allegedly revealed their involvement in transformer thefts.
Police registered a case (No. 427/2026) under Sections 302(2), 317(3) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The three accused have been forwarded to court, while further investigation is underway, Morada police station officer Sumit Kumar Soren said.
SI Chandan Kumar Nayak was also present at the press conference.
