Five of inter-state dacoit gang arrested

SAMBALPUR: Sambalpur Police on Saturday arrested five dacoits of an inter-state dacoit gang who had hurled crude bombs on policemen, injuring five.The accused have been identified as Sanjay Singh (33) of Bhawanipur in Kolkata, Ali Shekh (26) of Porchandrapur in Birbhum district, Lakhan Biswas (20) of Ganganagar in 24 Paraganas district, Aftab Khan alias Guddu (32) of Khiditpur in Kolkata and Kamal Mandal (42) of Bardhawan, all in West Bengal, while three others identified as Bachhu, Zia and Mahaboob are still at large.Police have seized two firearms, six live bullets, four swords, six mobile sets and five wristwatches from the gang besides gold and silver ornaments, five mobile sets, two digital cameras, one wristwatch and Rs 16,000 stolen from the house of one Biswajit Sahu at Choudhury Chhak under Sadar police limits.Addressing mediapersons here on Sunday, Sambalpur SP Nikhil Kanodia said eight dacoits broke into the house of Biswajit Sahu and looted cash and ornaments late on Friday. Acting on a tip off, police swooped down on the house and managed to overpower two of them when the dacoits lobbed a bomb at the police personnel injuring five. In the melee that ensued, they managed to flee, he said.Rengali Police, however, nabbed five dacoits from Rengali area on Saturday morning, he added.The SP revealed that the dacoits were tenants of Md Sonu at Khetipada in Motijharan area of Sambalpur town. They were also involved in a couple of dacoity cases in the recent past in and around Sambalpur town and were disposing of the stolen materials in West Bengal.Terming them history-sheeters, Kanodia said Sanjay, Aftab and Kamal had earlier been sentenced to jail for seven years for their involvement in dacoity cases in Kolkata whereas Ali Shekh was involved in an attempt to murder case in Navi Mumbai.On the other hand, one among the five police personnel, identified as Sepoy Sukanta Kumar Seth, who sustained multiple injuries on both hands due to the bomb explosion has been shifted to SCB Medical, Cuttack, for a minor operation.