A notorious dacoit involved in as many as 56 criminal cases was arrested by the Commissionerate Police on Sunday night. He was nabbed along with his aide and two gold receivers from Puri, said Twin City Commissioner of Police Dr RP Sharma here on Monday.
The police team seized gold ornaments weighing 220 gram, two laptops, three mobile phones and two wrist watches from the possession of the dacoits.
The two dacoits were identified as Nalu Swain (24) of Beguniabasta under the Astaranga police limits in Puri district and K Simadri alias Tamada (22) of Takili (near old cinema hall) of Palasa district in Andhra Pradesh, presently staying at Raghunathpur under the Infocity police station in the city.
The two gold receivers were identified as Ashok Kumar Sahoo (32) and his brother Prakash Sahu of Sambhubharatipatna under the Balanga police limits in Puri district.
According to Dr Sharma, 56 cases are pending against Nalu and his village friend Nanda alias Niranjan Swain (36) in 12 police stations in the city within 14 years of their dacoity. The duo had committed 14 robberies this year alone. The police have started a manhunt to nab Nanda, he added.
Nalu confessed before the police that they most of the time came to Kalpana Square by an Astarang bus and bought materials like torchlight, apparatus for breaking window grills from the market in the city. They stayed in a lodge at Ashok Nagar and came out of the hotel at 11 pm after getting drunk. They hired an autorickshaw and went whatever they wanted in the city. Finally, they selected a house on the spot and entered into it by breaking open the window grills.
The dacoit said they defecated in the house before leaving it. “The dacoits feel defecating while dacoity is a lucky sign for them,” said Dr Sharma.
The Commissioner of Police said Nalu had raped a woman on September 11, 2013 while looting her house located in the Tamando area on the outskirts of the city.
Nalu’s three-member small gang had robbed two houses under the Dhauli police limits and a house under the Airfield police station last month, said Dr Sharma.