Sambalpur: Sambalpur police have arrested nine persons including the main accused in connection with the theft of RWSS (rural water supply and sanitation) pipes from Hirakud area.
Police have seized 31 pipes, one truck, two cars and Rs 87,000 in cash from the possession of the accused persons.
The accused are allegedly involved in over 30 cases of pipe thefts in seven districts in western Odisha.
Among the accused two are from Chhattisgarh and one is from West Bengal.
According to Sambalpur police, the accused have been identified as Mohammad Imran alias Munna (32) of Masjid Gali under Dhanupali police station limits, Basudev Oram (31) of Masterpara under Hirakud police station limits, Jashobant Bhoi alias Dusmanta (31) of Khadiapada, Bikash Das (27) of Marwadi Dharmasala area under Town police station limits, Kalu alias Feroze Khan (45) of Khetrajpur, Amit Samant (47) of Nichinda police station limits in Howrah district of West Bengal, Sandip Kumar Agarwal (44), of Mangala Mandir area under Choudwar police limits of Cuttack district Sanjib Pandit (41) of Veer Savarkar Nagar under Kabirnagar police station limits of Raipur district of Chhattisgarh and Anil Pansari (52) of Rajendranagar police station limits.
Police said Mohammad Imran alias Munna is the main accused.
