In a major crackdown against organised crime, the Commissionerate Police on Tuesday claimed to have been successful in breaking the chain of gun runners who were planning to supply firearms to criminals in Cuttack.
As per reports, a special team of Lalbag Police station led by IIC RN Bhanja managed to nab three illegal arms suppliers on Monday night. Five firearms including three 9mm pistols and 30 rounds of live bullets were seized from the criminals.
The accused have been identified as Milan alias Sujit Swain of Jagatsinghpur, Jitu alias Dibyaswarup Sahoo of Khordha and Saubhagya Jena of Jagatsinghpur district.
Cuttack DCP Prateek Singh told reporters on Tuesday that Milan is a veteran criminal and is involved in 15 cases including murder, dacoity and other crimes registered at various police stations across the State. He was previously booked under the National Security Act (NSA) in Jagatsinghpur in 2019 as well.
Several criminal cases are also pending against Sujit and Saubhagya. According to Singh, the trio was intercepted near Trishulia bridge last night when they were planning to handover the firearms to some criminals in Cuttack.
“We are trying to ascertain the source of procurement of these firearms and to whom they were planning to supply,” said Singh. Singh further said that Milan lived in Bhubaneswar and Puri by concealing identity. He was mainly involved in the trafficking of illegal weapons to criminals in Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Nayagarh, Puri and Khordha districts.
“We are carrying out further investigation to unearth the entire network of these criminals,” Singh added.