The police here on Thursday nabbed five goons and forwarded them to court. The habitual offenders were involved in crimes such as dacoity, highway robbery and railway wagon breaking. They belong to the Haldia area of West Bengal and were committing crimes in West Bengal and in Baleswar.
They were identified as Manoj Ray (39), of Chiranjibipur, Sk Mustafa (35) of Paramanandapur Chhak, Bholanath Das (30) of Bhawanipur, Bapi Singh (29) and Kartik Mana (20), both of Parghasipur.
They were booked in the latest cases of crimes which they committed on May 16 night. In the first instance, they robbed one Ratikanta Giri and his sister-in-law on NH-60 when they were coming towards Baleswar from Basta by a motorcycle.
They tied the duo in a tree near the Fuladi Square and robbed all gold ornaments, cash and other valuables from them.
After fleeing from the spot, the same night they barged into a roadside dhaba, and after beating and tying its owner Bidyadhar Mishra decamped with his motorcycle and mobile phone. Such consecutive incidents posed a serious concern for the police, who nabbed the criminals after a massive search operation.
The police recovered the stolen motorcycle and gold ornaments from their possessions.
Meanwhile, the police suspect their involvement in a criminal case of Raibani that occurred on April 30. In this case, they had beaten and tied a house owner, a widow, and looted gold ornaments and cash. The Raibania police may take them on remand in connection with the unsolved case. “They are habitual offenders and cases against them are pending in Haldia too. We forwarded them all to court last evening,” informed Sadar SDPO KC Parida.