A thief was beaten up black and blue by locals near a medical store here on Monday for allegedly stealing mobile phones.
The locals after thrashing the thief recovered three mobile phones from him and later handed over him to the police.
The thief was identified as Durga Charan Sahu of Padmabati village under Bhapur block.
Police officers SM Samantray and Somnath Jena said that the recovered mobile phones have been stolen from Bhubaneswar. The recovered mobile phones are of Sushant Chotray of Bomikhal, Babu Barik of Mancheswar and Pramod Kumar Sahu of Ashok Nagar, the officers further informed.
The officials also hoped that mobile theft cases held in Bhapur area may be solved after interrogation of Sahu.