Bhubaneswar: A special police squad arrested five most-wanted criminals involved in a series of cases in and around the city in a late night raid on Friday.

The arrested have been identified as Rashmi Ranjan Dhala, 28, Sanjay Kumar Swain, 25, Bachan Naik, 26, and Atulya Kumar Gochhit, 48, from Cuttack and Dipti Kanta Mohanty, 28, from Puri. The police said Mohanty, wanted in a number of cases, was the leader of the gang.

They were involved in a number of cases, including attempt to murder, rape, burglary and highway robberies. The cops also seized a car, a motorcycle, four mobile phones, gold and silver ornaments, a truck and house-breaking tools and weapons such as farsa and bhujali.

"We got a tip-off about five to six persons assembling in an unregistered vehicle to commit a burglary at Kalinga Nagar. Our special squad, with the help of Khandagiri police, raided the place and nabbed them around 2:30am," said a police officer.

He said one person managed the escape taking advantage of the darkness.

Cases against the five were registered at Tangi, Banki, Jatni and Saheed Nagar.

The police said the gang used to steal trucks and cars and use the registration number and other details of discarded vehicles to mislead them.