Dacoit Gang Busted in Rayagada: 3 Held

Rayagada: Police busted a dacoit gang in Rayagada district and arrested three persons including a minor. Additionally, authorities confiscated Rs 90,000, a toy gun, two motorcycles, and four mobile phones from their possession.

The arrested accused have been identified as Laxmi Narayan Majhi, Krishna Naik and Shib Shankar Naik. All belong to the Kashipur block. The gang reportedly committed robberies by brandishing toy guns, knives, and other sharp weapons in secluded areas. According to reports, an employee of a finance company has been acting as an informant for the dacoit gang. This gang, consisting of nine members, utilized the information to rob individuals in areas where the finance company’s loan collections and repayments occurred.

Leveraging this insider knowledge, the gang also committed robberies in secluded areas. These incidents have occurred thrice, yet the police have been unable to uncover any leads.

On the 9th, two employees of the finance company in Rayagada lodged a complaint at the Chandili police station, stating that miscreants had looted a significant amount of money, tablets, and motorcycles from them. The robbery reportedly occurred as the employees were returning from the villages within the Katikana Panchayat of the Kolnara block. One of the employees Sukant Kumar filed this complaint at the Chandili police station.

Subsequently, the Chandili police initiated an investigation, harbouring suspicions about the finance company’s employees due to the frequency of robberies. During the inquiry, an employee named Laxmi Narayan Majhi was interrogated and confessed to the crime. Acting on his confession, the police apprehended three additional individuals and recovered Rs 90,000, a toy gun, a knife, two motorcycles, and four mobile phones. The police disclosed that one of the individuals detained was a minor.

At a press conference, Rayagada SDPO Rashmiranjan Senapati disclosed that the apprehended individuals were implicated in two additional robberies at Rayagada and Chandili police stations. He mentioned that there were five more gang members and expressed confidence that they would be apprehended shortly. The three individuals arrested have been remanded to court today. Chandili Police Station Officer Prashanna Kumar Behera and Sub-Inspector Shivshankar Sahu were notably in attendance at the press briefing.