Cuttack, Aug. 16: After an exchange of fire, police today arrested gangster Raghunath Das, a resident of Nua Sahi at Bidanasi, for his alleged involvement in a series of crimes.

To resist his arrest, Raghunath opened fire at the police personnel at Balighat in Sector 10 of Markatnagar.

The police recovered one pistol, bullets and a live bomb from the spot.

Cuttack deputy commissioner of police Akhileswar Singh said: "Raghunath is a notorious criminal involved in a series of bombing cases that seriously breached peace in Cuttack."

The criminal gained notoriety for executing extortion threats by bombing and is suspected to have links with the gangster siblings - the Dhal Samanta brothers. The police said Raghunath was involved in recent cases of bombing at Gouda Sahi in Bidanasi police limits and a car showroom near Chandi Chakh in Cantonment police limits. Yesterday, he even supplied bombs for a terror operation at Markatnagar.

The police claimed that a special squad foiled the bombing bid near the Jagannath Temple at Sector 6 of Markatnagar by arresting one Lingaraj Das, who had planned to hurl a bomb at the religious place around 2.30pm. Later, a special squad went after Raghunath and managed to track him down at Balighat under sector 10 of Markatnagar around 8pm. But, Raghunath opened fire at the police personnel. The police fired back in self-defence.

"During the gunfight, Raghunath suffered injuries on his left leg. He was immediately taken to SCB Medical College Hospital," assistant commissioner of police (zone IV) Pramod Rath said. This is the second case in four months in which a criminal was nabbed after a police encounter.