The two brothers were popular in their friend circle, passed BSc from Ravenshaw College, and had dreams of becoming entrepreneurs. But a fork in their lives changed everything. Sons of a retired assistant sub-inspector at the wireless signals in Cuttack, Sushant, 45, and Sushil Dhal Samant, 42, are now the face of crime in Cuttack.

Since 1993, the brothers unleashed terror through their wide crime syndicate in Cuttack and other areas in Odisha's coastal belt. But before they stepped into the world of crime, the brothers had a commendable academic record.

After passing out from Odisha Police High School in 1985, Sushant passed BSc in mathematics honours from Ravenshaw College. He later qualified for the National Defence Academy, which he did not join, family sources said.

Younger brother Sushil studied at Odisha Police High School in Tulasipur and completed his BSc from Ravenshaw College in photography.

Sushil was keen on doing an MBA, but his father did not allow him.

Sources said the brothers started down the criminal path after they were involved in a bombing incident in 1994-95. Since then, they have been controlling the crime syndicate in the city.

Police claim that the arrest of the gangster siblings, from their Pokhariput hideout in Bhubaneswar in January, has been key in checking crime in the twin cities.

In a big crackdown, the police recovered a huge cache of arms, including 13 weapons, a sophisticated carbine, eight mausers, three pistols, a double barrel gun and over 400 live ammunition, from the brothers' hideout and their home in Sector 6 of Markatnagar in the city.

Preliminary investigations reveal that the brothers had taken control of the organised crime scene by either eliminating or including several gangsters in their gang.

From Bhuan alias Pramod Patra, Juga Prakash Kanungo to Bhajana alias Sanjay Sahu, most of the seasoned criminals in the city had teamed up with the Dhal Samant brothers. <>In a special operation launched after the arrest of the gangster siblings, tThe police have so far arrested 34 key associates, including a few contractors, while about 16 firearms and 200 ammunition have been seized from them.Dhal Samant , who were thriving by generating large amounts of money through their wide tender fixing, extortion, arms trade and sand mining rackets in Cuttack.

Bulu was arrested Cuttack-based at his houseand his criminal antecedents are being looked intoillegally and not others, even if they bid low in the auctionPolice have also recovered unaccounted money worth Rs 6.27 lakh and other vital documents from Bhuiyan's possession.

The cache of arms was kept in a box-like structure that was hidden in the false ceiling of one of the bathrooms on the second floor of the CDA house, while the cash was found inside three bags kept in a cupboard.

The special police team recovered three pistols, 108 live ammunition and 13 mobile phones from Sushil and his elder brother Sushant during a raid at their Pokhariput house on January 28.

On March 3, police arrested Prakash Behera, 36, for his links with the gangster duo and running an illegal firearms racket in the city. Two automatic pistols and 10 rounds of bullets were seized from his possession. Prakash used to procure firearms from one Tukuna Swain, 40, of Talcher whose small firearms unit was busted during a special operation in 2014.

Charge-sheet filed

The police have so far filed charge-sheets in nine cases against the Dhal Samant brothers and their associates in two phases beginning April. On May 26, the police filed a charge-sheet against the brothers and 14 others for the alleged murder of Manoj Mallick alias Dipu.

Dipu, a sharpshooter for the brothers, was allegedly abducted from his house and beaten to death at a farmhouse in Athgarh along with his partner Om Prakash Swain in 2013. Their bodies were later disposed of at an isolated place in Jharkhand.

In May, another charge-sheet included the recovery of firearms from two associates of the brothers - Sulekh Sahu and Sangram Routray - who were terrorising a contractor engaged in the Japan International Co-operation Agency project and collection of extortion from a contractor for a Rourkela road project.

On May 1, the Markatnagar police filed a charge-sheet against the brothers along with four others in connection with the recovery of four sophisticated weapons under Section 25 of the Arms Act and sections 387, 341 and 34 of the IPC.

A charge-sheet was also filed after the recovery of over 12.5 litres of liquor from the brothers' house during a raid on January 29.

The police have booked only Sushil in this case under Section 47 of the Bihar and Orissa Excise Act.

On April 28, Markatnagar police filed a charge-sheet against Sushant under sections 420, 419, 467, and 471 of the IPC for the recovery of a fake driving licence from his hideout at Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

Another charge-sheet has been filed by the Chauliaganj police in connection with the seizure of several arms and ammunition from several associates of the Dhal Samant brothers.