Paradip, Oct. 15: Twenty seven women were taken into custody today on charge of committing theft from the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL)’s oil refinery complex near the port town.

Raiding the slums of nearby areas, police recovered huge quantities of scrap materials from the houses of the arrested women.

It was found that the accused persons were dabbling in such practice at the behest of their spouses. The police crackdown came in the wake of a series of recent cases of theft of scrap materials from the refinery complex.

“Acting on a compliant lodged by the IOCL authorities, we conducted an early morning search operation in Bagadia, Mangarajpur, Siju and Bisali slum colonies. Heaps of stolen scraps were retrieved during the raid,” said Anil Mishra, inspector of Paradip police station.

The arrested women, who were daily wagers, have confessed to committing the crime. However, no male members of the scrap smuggling racket could be arrested as they had fled from their houses minutes before the raid. The police are looking for at least fifty more male persons who are allegedly involved in the racket.

The accused women, who were later forwarded to court, revealed during interrogation that they used to lift scraps almost on a daily basis.

As a particular portion of the refinery complex is devoid of any protective boundary wall, they were managing to escape with the booty despite tight security in the project area, said a source in the police.