The Special Task Force (STF) of the State Crime Branch managed to nab a member of a mines and drugs mafia gang after an encounter at a playground near TLC Road in the Khordha town on Saturday night.
Acting on a tipoff about the presence of notorious mining mafia Sanjay Pradhan in the area, the STF team reached the spot. Spotting the police team, the gang members tried to mow down the cops with a car. Then they started firing in a bid to escape from the spot.
The STF sleuths retaliated in self defence. While one criminal was nabbed following the gunfight, three to four gang members managed to give the slip to police. The officials seized a car from the spot.
Three STF personnel also sustained injuries during the exchange of fire. The injured gangster and the STF personnel were rushed to a hospital in Bhubaneswar for treatment, sources said.
STF SP Rahul PR said, “We had credible information about a mining and drugs mafia Sanjay Pradhan and his associates congregating at a place. So, we conducted a raid. Seeing us the criminals fired some rounds at us and we retaliated. Three members dodged us and sped away from the spot. We nabbed one of the associates of Pradhan, he is being interrogated. Another gangster is believed to be injured in the encounter. We are in the lookout for the fugitives.”