Member of inter-state gang of looters arrested in Odisha

A member of an inter-state gang of looters has been arrested in Odisha's Ganjam district, police said. Sikandar Ali of Karnataka's Bidar district was arrested at Gosaninuagaon on Wednesday while efforts are on to nab other members of the gang, Berhampur Additional Superintendent of Police Pravat Routray said.

Ali was part of a nine-member gang, involved in incidents of snatching and a series of loots in several states. The criminals used to approach elderly people in the disguise of police officers and advise them not to wear gold ornaments and instead keep the precious items in their pockets.

After winning the trust of the victims, the gang members used to snatch away the ornaments from them or replace the valuables with fakes, he said. Ali was involved in at least seven cases of loot in Berhampur between March 2018 and September 15 this year, Routray said.

The other members of the gang belonged to different states. In the latest incident, the gang was involved in an incident of loot at Dimaind Tank Road under Bada Bazar police station limits on September 15, police said.

According to the preliminary investigation, the gang was initially active in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal. Subsequently, the operations were extended to Mayurbhanj, Balasore Bhadrak, Jajpur, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar in Odisha.

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