Two months after the dacoity at Namhira village, the Keonjhar police finally succeeded in tracking the criminals on Friday. Four dacoits from a 21-member inter-State gang were nabbed by special police team constituted for the purpose.
On July 6, the dacoits had looted Rs2.40 crore from the residence of a senior Congress leader, Sanatan Mahakud, and escaped in an SUV. Keonjhar SP Kavita Jalan constituted a special team of officers, including those from the Rugudi, Bamebari and Barbil Police Stations. The team members have been in combing operations since then.
Finally, after raiding different places in Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar, four accused were arrested from different places. The arrested dacoits are identified as Jajiram alias Santosh Kumar of Nawabganj, Bihar, Iqkbal Ansari of Parbatpur and Khalid Ansari Khundelwal, both from Jharkhand, and Mishra Behera of Sundargarh, Odisha.
The police also seized cash of Rs2 lakh from Iqbal Ansari, Rs19 lakh from Mishra Behera and Rs1 lakh from Khalid Ansari, apart from seizing a pistol, 14 cell phones, a Bolero car (OR-09A0879), two Scorpio SUVs (OR-09G4245 and OR-09K4896), a motorcycle from the accused.
According to police, Khalid Ansari was in Dhanbad Jail for different felony cases under the Tundi Police Station in Jharkhand and he had planned this heist while in the jail. After his release, he gathered his gang and looted Sanatan Mahakud’s house with the help of his cohorts from Odisha. Soon, other members of this gang were caught and put behind bars, the Keonjhar SP said.