Truck lifting gang busted, nine held

Cuttack: Badambadi police on Tuesday busted an inter-state gang involved in stealing trucks from Cuttack and neighbouring districts and arrested nine persons in this connection.

Along with the two masterminds of the gang Mohammed Illiash and Jagabandhu Bisoi, six of their aides and a person who had purchased the stolen vehicle have been nabbed by police in a series of raids.

Several parts of dismantled trucks and a luxury car were seized from the arrested, police said.

The Madhupatna police had earlier arrested two alleged kingpins of the racket who revealed the information. After interrogating them, the police traced the stolen truck from a garage in Balasore district, they said.

The Balasore garage owner was arrested along with other members of the racket. A luxury car was also seized from their possession, Cuttack DCP Sanjib Arora said.

All the arrested persons were forwarded to Court today which remanded them to judicial custody, police said adding that both the alleged kingpins of the racket together have at least 16 criminal cases pending against them in several police stations of the city.

During interrogation, it was found that the notorious gang was involved in series of truck stealing cases in Cuttack and neighbouring districts. "So far we have found details of at least 13 truck stealing cases in which Illiash, Bisoi and his aides were involved. We are trying to collect more details about other cases and also trying to recover other stolen vehicles," said a senior police officer.