Bhubaneswar, April 5: Police today busted an interstate gang of vehicle thieves and seized two SUVs and two motorcycles from them.

The cops arrested four members of the gang and are looking for six more cars stolen from Bhubaneswar and its outskirts.

The accused has been identified as Alekha Behera, 34, Manoranjan Pradhan, 29, both from Kandhamal district, Basant Das, 37, of Cuttack and Ashok Naik, 33, of Ganjam.

The police said that all four accused were drivers by profession and were running a ganja business with the stolen vehicles.

"Alekha and Ashok were arrested earlier for illegal ganja peddling. They used to steal the four wheelers by using duplicate keys. After using the vehicles for a few months, they used to dismantle the spares and sell them," said inspector in charge of Khandagiri police station Sarat Chandra Sahu.

The police swung in to action after Rabindra Nath Sahani, a resident of Khandagiri, had lodged a complaint last December after his SUV was stolen.

"After preliminary investigation, the police picked Alekha and subsequently arrested two of his associates. Basant was arrested on charges of buying the stolen vehicle," said a police official.

A six-member police team conducted raids at several places in Nayagarh after getting a tip-off and arrested Alekha, the mastermind of the racket.

"Further investigation revealed that the gang was also involved in the theft of at least six other four-wheelers. Efforts are on to recover those vehicles," said a police official.