The Railway Protection Force (RPF) on Sunday arrested four persons for stealing coal from a train near the south end of the Radhakishorepur station, 48 km from here. Sixteen bags of raw coal worth around Rs 4,000 and four railway track bearing plates were seized from their possession, said Bhubaneswar RPF Inspector-in-Charge Barun Kumar Behera.
The accused were identified as Ashok Sahoo (43), a resident of Balisahi in Narsinghpur area, Pratap Kumar Behera (19) of Radhakishorepur, Manguli Behera (51) and Niranjan Das (53) of Belda, all under the Khuntuni police station in Cuttack district.
According to the RPF officials, they detained the four after getting information over phone from RPF constable Santosh Kumar Chowdhury. who was on duty at that time. RPF staff from Bhubaneswar and Ghantikhal outpost rushed the spot and arrested the culprits.
On Saturday night, Sahoo committed theft of iron plates of the railway from the side of gang hut at Radhakishorepur railway colony along with 16 bags of raw coal from a stationary train and concealed it near a bushy area by the side of railway track. In the morning, he called his friends to shift the stolen materials and loaded them in his auto rickshaw. Interestingly, Sahoo was indulging in illegal activities in the area by identifying himself as a journalist, said the IIC. later the accused were forwarded to court.