City police foiled an attempt made by a band of seven dacoits while they were planning to commit burglary at certain locations in the late night of Tuesday in the Maluani ground of village Haridakhandi under the Bada Bazar police station on the outskirts of the city.
On a tip-off, the police suddenly raided the spot and arrested five miscreants while the other two managed to escape unnoticed. The arrested miscreants were identified as Sania Gouda and Bipin Jena of Martha Street, lilu Behera of Nilanchal Street, lala Gouda of Dharmanagar and Tuna Patra alias Jangu Tuna of Charideeba Sahi.
The police registered a case against the accused and forwarded them to court on Wednesday. The police also recovered a 9MM mouser, three live bullets, two sharp swords, a country-made bomb and a magazine from the miscreants. The two other miscreants would be nabbed soon, said police sources. More than ten cases are pending against the accused in different police stations.
In another incident, the Sadar police raided a fast food centre at the Dengapadar Square and arrested a person for illegal sale of liquor on Wednesday. The accused was identified as Bajpayee Pattnaik, from whom the police recovered 15 bottles of foreign liquor. The police were receiving information about illegal sale of liquor in some newly-opened hotels, restaurants, dhabas and fast food centres in this area since last several months.
The rising incidents of burglary, chain-snatching and looting in the city have become a cause of worry for the police. On Wednesday at 9 in night, an unidentified man covering his face with a handkerchief was suspiciously standing in Gandhinagar 3rd line-Mahamayee Women’s’ College lane probably to settle score with someone or snatch ornaments from passersby taking advantage of the darkness of the area, sources said.