Bhubaneswar, May 18: Passion for cricket and the desire to host a tournament landed four gang members in jail today.

They stole bats and tracksuits from a sports store near Jayadev Vihar here on April 2.

Police have seized 14 bats and tracksuits each from the accused. Eight motorcycles, 19 mobile phones and gold ornaments weighing 51gm were also recovered from them.

The accused are Jagatsinghpur resident Susant Sahu, 26, Jajpur native Suvrajeet Parida, 29, Harihar Samal, 34, from Cuttack, and 27-year-old Rama Ramana Sethy from Kendrapara. The police said the accused were involved in around 50 cases of burglary and robbery in Cuttack, Bhuba-neswar and adjoining areas.

Susant, the gang leader, is a cricket enthusiast and planned to organise a cricket tournament at his village in Tirtol in Jagatsinghpur district. Subsequently, the gang conducted a recce at the store and stole the cricket bats.

"The burglars decamped with bats, made from traditional English willow, that can cost anywhere between Rs 10,000 and Rs 25,000. They also searched the store for shoes. However, they could not get their hands on them as only one from each pair was on display," said a police official.

He said: "They did not touch any other equipment despite the store stocking a high number of high-end sports accessories." The cops began an investigation on the basis of CCTV footage from the store.

Deputy commissioner of police Satyabrata Bhoi said one of the accused told the police about the plan to organise the tournament. "We are verifying the claims. The gang's primary target were electronics and sports stores," said Bhoi.

The police said around 15 members of the gang have been involved in 20 such cases in various areas of the twin cities this year.