Four arrested for looting over Rs 35 lakh from bus

Four persons allegedly involved in the looting of bus passengers in Jharkhand's Dumka district have been arrested and Rs 35.5 lakh and country-made weapons recovered from them, police said. Armed assailants had beaten up passengers of a Kolkata-bound bus coming from Bihar's Bhagalpur and looted them near Massanjore Dam in the district on August 28.

Superintendent of Police Y S Ramesh told reporters on Monday that besides the cash amount, two looted mobile phones and two country-made pistols were recovered from the arrested persons. Four police teams had raided 96 locations in Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal leading to arrest of four of the total 14 accused, he said.

Three of the arrested persons are from Bihar while one is from Dumka, Ramesh said. One of the accused was nabbed from Dumka and his interrogation led to the remaining arrests, he added.

Ramesh had earlier said that the assailants had looted Rs 4 lakh in cash and 13 mobile phones from the passengers and an "unspecified amount" from the conductor's locker in the bus..