In a major breakthrough, Balasore Police on Tuesday busted a dacoit gang and arrested three persons. The police also seized 22 motorcycles and one car from their possession.
According to the police, among the arrested persons, one is a journalist of a web channel. They seized two vehicles with ‘press’ stickers on them and two identity cards from his possession. The identities of the arrested persons were not revealed by the police.
The police were tipped off that a person from Badapokhari village under Oupada police limits is in possession of several bikes. A team led by the Oupada IIC conducted a raid at the said location and recovered 13 bikes from a house. The house owner confronted the police introducing himself as a journalist of a web channel. When he was unable to produce any documents of the bikes and as the number plates were found to be fake, the police seized all the motorcycles and took the person to the police station for interrogation.
During interrogation, the police gathered several clues based on which, they carried out raids and arrested three dacoits involved in bike lifting and robbery at several places in Cuttack, Mayurbhanj, and Balasore.
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As many as 22 motorcycles were seized along with other items that included Rs 56,000 in cash, one laptop, and two mobile phones.
“The so-called web channel journalist has 14 cases pending against him. The bikes were stolen from Lalbag in Cuttack, Baripada, Keonjhar, and Balasore areas. The locations were movie theatres, hospitals, and marketplaces,” said Balasore SP, Sagarika Nath.
When asked if the police would take steps to identify fake journalists, she said, “On the occasion of the Republic Day, we had sought a detailed list of authenticated journalists from the DIPRO. We would launch a verification drive.”