The motorcylcle lifters at Kendrapara police station and (below) stolen vehicles recovered by cops. Telegraph pictures

Kendrapara, April 27: A group of teenagers who operated a well-knit inter-district bike lifting gang were taken into police custody today.

The five-member gang had spread their network to various parts of the state. With their arrest, as many as 13 motorcycles lifted from places such as Kujang, Jagatsinghpur, Pattamundai, Paradip and Kakatpur were recovered. Five others, who abetted the crime in buying the bikes, have also been taken into custody.

The motorcycle lifters arrested today were Kalpataru Jena, Gangadhar Rout, Ajay Sethy, Rajendra Das and a minor boy. Apart from them, Kumar Sahu, Banamali Sethy, Dibakar Nayak, Manas Behera and Naveen Kumar Sethy were also booked and forwarded to court as they were the receivers of the stolen property, said police.

The recipients of the stolen property bought the bikes with the knowledge that these were lifted from various places. Besides the intercepted bike lifters, at least three others, including the kingpin of the racket, have evaded arrest.

“Members of the gang, who included a motor garage mechanic and a diploma student, ran the gang in an organised manner. We have also noticed that all these thefts used to take place during evening and night hours,” said Narasingha Bhol, Kendrapara’s superintendent of police.