Bhubaneswar, June 17: Two mobile phone thieves were detained today by the Airfield police who seized more than 100 mobile phone sets and some gold ornaments from them.

Police said the detainees had been identified as Mahendra Baral and Sudhanshu Sahu of Nayagarh district. Police said the criminals were members of a gang of burglars who had been active on the outskirts of the capital city. The members used to escape to their native villages after committing crimes.

Police said four days ago, the gang had broken into a mobile phone storeroom in the Pokhriput area and stolen a number of sets. Though sources said that more than 500 mobile phones had been stolen from that shop, police did not confirm it. However, they confirmed that more than 100 mobile handsets had been seized from the accused.

“Acting on a tip-off, we conducted raids at various places in Nayagada and nabbed the accused. We have seized some mobile phones and some ornaments from them,” said a police officer.

The officer said the accused were being interrogated. “We hope to seize more stolen goods from them. Moreover, we want to bust the whole gang,” said the officer, adding that they would be forwarded to court soon.

In another development, the Laxmi Sagar police today arrested a person and detained another for stealing laptops. They were caught from Bomikhal Canal Road. Police also seized a laptop from the accused.

According to police, the arrested accused, A. Eshwar, had recently stolen a laptop from a house. Getting complaint about the laptop theft, police raided his house in the Bamikhal Canal Road area and arrested him. Police detained another person on the basis of suspicion of his involvement in the crime.

“We will forward the accused to court tomorrow,” said a police officer.

In yet another incident, some goons committed theft in a cloth store in the underground subway shopping arcade joining Unit I market to Unit II market last night.

According to police, the shop owner today found the shutter of his shop broken. When he entered the shop, he found a large number of readymade garmets stolen. “We are investigating the matter and hope to arrest the goons very soon,” said a police officer.