As part of its drive against the criminal elements, the Commissionerate police here today arrested seven dreaded criminals while they were allegedly planning to commit a crime.
"A team of Markat Nagar police this afternoon raided a hideout behind a local petrol pump and nabbed the gang members, including its leader one Bijay Kumar Sahu (26) of nearby Banki locality," said the Cuttack DCP Sanjiv Arora.
Arora said all the arrested persons have cases pending against them in Banki, Nayagarh and Cantonment police station of the city. Police have also seized one revolver, two live ammunition, one dagger, a motorcycle, two cell phones and one camera from their possession.
Arora said the modus operandi of the gang was to move around at deserted places equipped with lethal weapons in search of their potential targets. "Finding the opportunistic moment, the gang would either commit burglary or robbery," the DCP said.
Besides Bijay, other arrested include Birbar Gochhayat (24), Maharag Bhoi (36), Batakrushna Gochhayat (37) (all from Banki) and Goga Behera (20) of Tangi in Khurda, Trinath Saha (24) of Cuttack city and Rakesh Behera (26) of Nimapara in Puri district.
All these arrested persons have at least two cases pending in Nayagarh police station, three cases pending in Banki police station and as many as six cases pending in Cantonment police station of the city, police said.
