Gangster Syed Usman Ali, alias Tito. Telegraph picture

Kendrapara, May 12: Gangster Syed Usman (Tito) was arrested today from his Dilarpur house in the township here on a number of criminal charges sparking angry protest from his supporters.

Nearly 400 persons staged a protest at the district collectorate against what they called “unlawful arrest” of Usman. The collectorate was literally taken over by the mob, forcing the district administration to clamp prohibition orders under Section 144 of the CrPC in the entire town.

“The assembly of people was entirely unlawful. That’s why prohibition orders under Section 144 of the CrPC has been imposed,” said Kendrapara district collector Pradipta Kumar Pattnaik.

Security has been beefed up in the township as loyalists of the gangster marched towards the Paradip-Daitary expressway to stage a blockade.

“Despite claims by the gangster that he has dissociated from crime after he was released from jail on November 11, we have found conclusive and corroborative evidence of Tito being involved in extortion by way of fixing tenders for civil constructions work. By terrorising prospective tender bidders at gun point, he had recently fixed tenders worth Rs 5crore in favour of two contractors in Aul saline embankment division,” Kendrapara police chief Narasingha Bhol said.

When the police placed him under arrest, he was in unlawful possession of a revolver and four live bullets, the SP said.

On April 30, a tender worth Rs 2.82crore was fixed by him while another tender bid worth Rs 2.18crore in Aul saline embankment division on May 11 was also fixed by him through coercive tactics.

His modus operandi was simple. He fixed the tender in support of his favoured contractor in exchange of huge sums of money. Other prospective bidders were warned and intimidated to stay away from the bidding process, Bhol said.

“We have identified a select band of contractors who were reaping hefty benefits from the tender fixing executed by the gangster. They are going to be arrested shortly,” he added.

The gangster was trying to cultivate a Robinhood-like image by sharing his spoils with a cross section of people.

Tito formed the Baldejew Shramik Sangthan to demand employment for local people in industrial units in Paradip. As huge money was being spent to organise rallies, police suspected that the money spent by him had been accrued by fixing tenders.