A racket allegedly involving sale of antique Hanuman coins was busted with the arrest of seven persons in this connection in Brahmapur on Tuesday. The racket was unearthed during a raid at a house owned by one Surya Patra at Shanti Nagar under the Bada Bazar police station in the city. During the raid, three copper Hanuman coins, Rs 1.5 lakh cash, two motorcycles, magnet, spirit and other items were seized from the possession of the arrestees.
The accused were identified as Pradhan Mohapatra (41), Anil Kusum (34), Suresh Meher (31) of Sambalpur, Jayant Pradhan (21), Bijay Kumar Bag (40) of Rourkela, Akshay Kumar Patra (36) of Sorada and Jayram Patra (34) of K Nuagaon in Ganjam.
The accused had assembled at Surya’s house and were waiting for buyers to sell the antique Hanuman coins at Rs 2 crore when police conduct a raid. While the seven persons were arrested, Surya managed to give the police a slip.