Berhampur, Aug. 3: Police today arrested five men and recovered 18 stolen motorcycles from them.

Among the two-wheelers one was of Anup Kanungo, the inspector in charge of Nayapalli police station.

The police said the other victims of the gang included a Lok Sabha member’s close aide and a journalist. The gang had been stealing motorcycles from various parts of the state.

Berhampur sub-divisional police officer Thakur Prasad Patra said the thieves would target bikes that had been illegally parked. “We are yet to arrest the gang’s mastermind Kalia Barik, who stays in Bhubaneswar.”

The accused persons are S. Prem Dora of Kansamari, Manoj Kumar Prusti and Laxmidhar Sahu from Dengaosta in Ganjam district and Rupak Pasupalak and Lipun Kumar Rout of Berhampur.

The police busted the gang during the checking of two-wheelers near Rukmini Talkies here yesterday evening. “When we stopped the motorcycle of S. Prem Dora and asked him to produce the documents of the vehicle, he could not provide them. Further interrogation led to his confession that the vehicle he was riding was a stolen one. The police recovered eight two-wheelers from him alone,” said a cop.

His interrogation led to the arrest of Manoj Kumar Prusty and Laxmidhar Sahu. Eight more two-wheelers were recovered from the two.

They confessed of stealing motorcycles from different places under the guidance of Kalia Barik.

“Later, we arrested Rupak Pasupalak and Lipun Kumar Rout for lifting a Honda Activa from a shop,” the police personnel said.

The vehicles belong to people in Bhubaneswar, Berhampur, Nimapara in Puri, Angul and Jharsuguda, Patra said.