Bhubaneswar: Odisha Police claimed to have busted an automobile theft syndicate active in many districts, after arresting four persons from Tamil Nadu in Bhubaneswar here on Wednesday. The accused persons were identified as S Kathiravan (34), Dinesh Kumar (55), K Dilliranjan (49) and S Kumar alias Panni (43). An amount of Rs 19,200 cash along with 35 iron balls, an Ipad, a catapult and three air bags were seized from their possession. 

Confirming the arrest, Commissionerate Police said the gang had a history of stealing from vehicles and were active in Khurda, Puri and Cuttack districts. 

Though the racket was operating since many days, it came to the fore following a complaint by a construction firm supervisor who filed a complaint with police following theft from his vehicle two days back. 

On July 3 afternoon, the complainant Kishore Kumar Jha had gone to buy materials from Lewis Road and forgotten to lock the door of his vehicle (a Scorpio bearing registration number  no- OD 34D 8484) . When he returned, he found his valuables including Rs 44,000 cash, SBI ATM card, SBI Cheque Book, Pan Card, Aadhar Card, Driving License, and some other important documents and bills of his company missing. 

Suspecting theft, he immediately reached out to Lingaraj Police who after registering a case, started scanning CCTV footage in the area leading to identification of the accused and their subsequent arrest near Rabi Talkies Chhak. 

Addressing mediapersons, Commissioner Suresh Dev Datta Singh for twin cities Bhubaneswar and Cuttack , Additional Police Commissioner Narsingha Bhol and DCP Jagmohan Meena informed that the four arrested persons confessed to the crime. Their modus operandi was breaking into vehicles after smashing windows with iron balls using a catapult and looting valuables. They were history-sheeters and had prior cases registered against them in Saheed Nagar and Capital police stations in the city. "All of them will be forwarded to the court under sections 303(2)/111(4)/112(2)/317(4)/3(5) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)," they added.