Jagatpur: Police have arrested five highway looters in Cuttack’s Jagatpur with the recovery of looted foreign liquor worth Rs 12.5 lakh including a pickup van. This was informed by Cuttack Zone-1 ACP Subhanarayana Muduli and IIC Rabindranath Meher in a press conference at Jagatpur police station premises on Tuesday.
On 27th January, the miscreants had fled with the pickup van carrying a liquor consignment after attacking the driver and helper near Birupa Bridge in Jagatpur on National Highway 16, the police said.
The arrested accused are identified as Padia alias Pradeep Kumar Sethi (21) of Andeisahi under Jagatpur police station, Bunty alias Arun Bhoi (18) of Champati village, Ita alias Prafulla Kumar Das of Dikshitpada Asureshwar area under Nishchitkoili police station, Buta alias Narana Das (20) of Badakhira village, who had been living in Nuasahi village under Jagatpur police station for a few months and Gopan alias Mangal Pingua (23), of Narendrapur village in Tangi police station limits.
A total of 157 cartons of foreign liquor of various brands valued at Rs 12 lakh 50,000, the looted pickup van, two motorcycles and the expensive smartphones have been seized from them, the police officials added.
According to police, a Bolero pickup van carrying a liquor consignment from Nirgundi depot was on its way to Niali area in evening for delivery. However, six miscreants stopped the vehicle at Birupa Bridge near Jagatpur. They attacked and abducted the driver and helper while fleeing away with the liquor delivery van. Later, the duo was dumped in a secluded place near the riverbank.
A preliminary investigation was launched by the police after the vehicle owner, Manoj Pratap lodged a written complaint with the Jagatpur police station
Police checked the CCTV footages of the spot and tracked down the miscreants. During the investigation, the police also rescued the helper Laxmidhar Pradhan. Later, the looted pickup was van seized from Manaduka area in Balichandrapur PS limits and the liquor seized from Asureshwar village under Nischintakoili PS limits in Jajpur district.
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