Berhampur, May 18: Police arrested five persons for allegedly facilitating bails to criminals by producing fake pattas (land records) and other documents in the court.

The gang members have been identified as Madhav Kothia, 58, Venkat Prasad Patnaik, 48, Bijaya Kumar Mahanty, 61, Raghunath Mahanty, 52, and Niranjan Reddy, 35 - all residents of Berhampur.

"Some members of the racket are absconding, and we are not disclosing their names right now," said Berhampur sub-divisional police officer Shantanu Kumar Das.

Das said the police had seized hundreds of fake land pattas, land revenue receipt books, counterfeit rubber seals of various revenue officials of different tehsils in the district and two computers.

The police suspected foul play after many arrested criminals had not turned up after securing bail. "We found out that these criminals had secured bails through fake documents. Warrants have been issued against those who have jumped bail," said Das.

While scrutinising the papers, the police found that one person facilitated 25 accused persons, who had been involved in 15 cases.