Kharavel Nagar police officers display tools used by robbers. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, March 4: The city police have busted an inter-state gang involved in stealing vehicles by changing number plates of trucks.

The police arrested three of its members and also seized three trucks from them. However, two others fled from the spot when police raided.

DCP Himanshu Lal said the Kharavela police received information last night that some people were changing the number plates and the registration numbers of trucks near Satya Nagar railway overbridge.

The police team conducted raids and arrested three robbers from the spot. Police also seized three numberless trucks and some equipment used for changing the chassis and engine numbers of the trucks.

The accused, identified as Manas Swain from Kendrapara, Surendra Moharana from Nayagarh and Brahmadeva Sharma from Bihar were arrested and produced to the court today.

However two other accused Debashis Padhi and the gang leader Umesh Rout fled from the spot. Police are searching for them.

According to the police, the accused were stealing the trucks from the national highways in different areas in the state as well as outside.

“They were active in Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar. They normally steal the trucks parked in front of dhabas along the national highways. The gang has several members who carry out different functions during their operation,” said a police officer adding that they had several cases registered against them in various police stations in Orissa as well as in other states.

Police said the accused stole the trucks and disposed the loaded materials in shops known to them in different parts of the state.

They then drove the trucks to a place where they changed the vehicle’s number plate, chassis and engine number using various tools.

Then they acquired new number plates and registration numbers from the Regional Transport Office through agents.

“The accused sold these trucks at prices ranging from Rs 7-8 lakh,” the police officer said and added that the gang had already sold 20 such trucks in the past.