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Kendrapara: A 44-year-old man who lifted as many as 141 motor bikes besides a four-wheeler in 25 year of lawbreaking spree has been taken into custody by Kendrapara police.
The manner in which the accused Ranjan Kar committed the offences one after the other has left everybody surprised.
The accused Kar had adopted inventive and ingenious ploy to deceive people in various parts of the state. He used to masquerade either as a priest or a tantric to take unsuspecting people for a ride and decamp with two-wheelers or household valuables. He had honed the skill of chanting ‘mantras’ ‘slokas’ in Sanskrit impeccably, said Inspector Nikirai police station, Pramod Kumar Lenka.
The offences committed by the accused were either motor bike lifting or house theft. He was nabbed while he was fleeing with a stolen motor bike from Nikirai village. Posing himself as an astrologer-turned-priest, he had impressed upon a local resident that a spell of evil had cast upon him and offering of puja was the sole remedy to get of it. After the completion of puja rituals, he stealthily left the house and stole the house owner’s motor bike. However he was caught by locals while he was run away, police said.
Interestingly, the accused confessed to have lifted as many as 141 motor bikes in such a manner. His first offence dated back to 1992 which he had committed in Salipur near Cuttack city. He used to target people of remote villages using similar technique. Prior to his arrest today, Kar had been apprehended four times. His area of operation was mostly in rural areas of Keonjhar, Jajpur, Cuttack and Kendrapara district, Inspector Lenka said.
Kar, who is an alcohol addict, was unrepentant. He was earlier bailed out following his arrest in the past. He confessed that he has committed such offences again and again to meet with the expenses of alcohol.
Basing on his statement, we are trying to nab those who have purchased stolen bikes from Kar in the past. As receiving of stolen property is an offence, they would be put behind the bars, the official added.
