Gumla Police have busted an interstate criminal gang allegedly involved in several theft, snatching and robbery cases across different states, arresting 11 of its members.
The police also claimed to have solved two major gold robbery cases reported in the Palkot and Ghaghra areas of Gumla district, in which gold traders were allegedly robbed of valuables worth crores of rupees.
Gumla Superintendent of Police Harish Bin Zaman said during a press conference that the arrests followed a tip-off about a group of people allegedly planning a criminal operation near the Bilung-Bira Road in Palkot.
According to the SP, police received information that around six to seven people had gathered on a hill near the brick kiln of Sumit Kesari. The information was verified and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed under the leadership of the Basia Sub-Divisional Police Officer.
The team reached the spot and began questioning and searching the suspects. During the operation, police recovered illegal firearms, cash, mobile phones and other items from them.
Police initially arrested seven people from the Bilung-Bira area of Palkot. During interrogation, they allegedly provided information that led police to four more suspects, taking the total number of arrests to 11.
The arrested accused were allegedly part of the ‘Korai Gang’, which operated across state borders and was involved in theft, snatching and robbery.
Police recovered around 70 grams of gold, 1.5 kg of silver, Rs 1.70 lakh in cash, one country-made pistol, two country-made firearms, mobile phones and other articles from the accused.
The SP said the investigation has linked the gang to the two major gold robbery cases in Palkot and Ghaghra. Police are continuing their investigation and efforts are underway to arrest other members of the gang who are still on the run.
Those arrested
The arrested accused have been identified as:
- R. Arjun alias Abla Arjun, 40, Purwakot, Korai police station, Jajpur, Odisha
- Akshay Kabadi, 26, Purwakot, Korai police station, Jajpur, Odisha
- Yeshu Das, 25, Purwakot, Korai police station, Jajpur, Odisha
- Kishun Das, 27, Purwakot, Korai police station, Jajpur, Odisha
- Avla Shekhar, around 35, Purwakot, Korai police station, Jajpur, Odisha
- Arjun Das, Jajpur, Odisha
- Naikel Sawan, around 30, Jajpur, Odisha
- Manoj Das, around 26, Jajpur, Odisha
- Bhola Datt, around 20, Jajpur, Odisha
- Karan Netam, 28, Mahasamund, Chhattisgarh
- Mekla Yeshu, around 29, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
The operation involved officers from different police units, including SDPO Chainpur Shruti, Circle Officer Gumla Suresh Prasad, SDPO Basia Shivshankar, Police Circle Inspector Vinay Kumar, Police Circle Inspector Gulshan Bhangra, Palkot SHO Ankit Raj and Ghaghra SHO Mohan Kumar Singh.
Police said the SIT and technical branch made a significant contribution to the investigation and the successful operation against the interstate gang.