Baranga: Ten persons, including the well-known criminal syndicate "D-Brothers " gang member Litua, were arrested on Sunday while threatening police personnel in connection with a road dispute in Odisha's Cuttack district. 

The arrested accused were identified as Litua alias Bharat Behera (36), Rakesh Behera (26), Dillip Kumar Sasmala (26), Om Sasmala (23) and Ayush Mahanti (22), all from Bidanasi, Sur alias Suresh Singh (32) and Santosh Sasmala (40) of Trishulia, Pupun Behera (22) of Niali, Satyaban Samal (22) of Brahmanjharilo, Siddhant Omprakash (22) of Patrapada, Kalinga Vihar. 

As per reports, the incident stemmed from a long-running dispute over access to a road in Kuhneipada. The land abutting the front portion of the road belongs to Trilochan Pradhan of Gopalpur village, while land along the rear portion is owned by a builder from the CDA area of Cuttack. Earlier, with mutual consent, a road had been laid to allow movement for both parties. Recently, however, the rear-side landowner allegedly withdrew consent, claiming ownership of the road and threatening Pradhan to vacate the land. For the past two days, he had reportedly been issuing threats with the help of a group of miscreants.

Police deny shots were fired, say accused only issued threats while trying to flee

On Saturday, the group allegedly created a ruckus and issued threats. Fearing for his safety, Pradhan informed Baranga police and sought protection. On Sunday, the miscreants allegedly arrived at the site with a JCB machine, began digging up the road, and threatened Pradhan’s employees while wielding weapons. After receiving information from the employees, Pradhan again alerted the police and later submitted a written complaint along with CCTV footage. Acting on the complaint, Baranga IIC Devendra Kumar Biswal, along with his team, reached the disputed site.

There was widespread local speculation that the accused fired blank shots at the police to intimidate them and that the police retaliated with blank firing before apprehending the suspects. However, the police have categorically denied any exchange of fire. Denying these claims, IIC Biswal said no firing took place. He clarified that the accused merely tried to intimidate the police verbally, warning them of consequences if they were detained, and attempted to flee. All ten inlcuding Litua were subsequently arrested. Police also seized a Tata Thar vehicle and two motorcycles used by the accused at the scene.  Efforts are underway to arrest other suspects who managed to escape, the IIC informed. 

The D-Brothers -Sushil and Susant Dhalasamanta - had made headlines following their arrest in 2016 in connection with a high-profile double murder case of their former associates, Dipu and Om. They have been linked to over 29 cases involving murder, extortion, tender fixing, and illegal arms supply. Police sources said the gangster siblings continued to operate their criminal syndicate from behind bars as a result of which they were recently shifted from Cuttack jail on security grounds. As of now, Sushil Dhalasamanta is in Balangir jail while his brother Susant was moved to Balasore prison.

Also read: Odisha: Woman sustains injuries as miscreants open fire in loot attempt, five held