Cuttack, May 4: Police today arrested four members of an inter-state gang that was involved in over 50 cases of theft in a number of commercial units in the city, Bhubaneswar, Jajpur and some other parts of the state.

A team of the special squad, which was probing the theft of computer and other electronic gadgets from a post office at Choudwar on March 10, 2016, busted the gang. The arrested have been identified as Ashok Das, 62, of Nuapada, Dilip Das, 37, of Chandbali, Devendra Panda, 36, of Jajpur and Tusar Kanti Mishra, 31, of Purighat in Cuttack.

The gang had been targeting shops that sell electronic gadgets, medicines, saris and other luxury items in the past four months. The police have recovered a laptop, an air-conditioner, a gen set, a laser printer, 50 bundles of sari, 960 pieces of revenue stamps, medicines and liquor worth over Rs 5 lakh. "We have busted the gang involved in a series of thefts in several places in Cuttack, Jajpur and other parts of the state in the past six months," said deputy commissioner Sanjeev Arora.

A senior official said Ashok, the kingpin of the gang, had been engaged in a sex racket for the past 30 years in Cuttack, Jajpur and some other parts of the state. Preliminary investigation revealed that Ashok had so far engaged over 1,500 girls in the prostitution racket in Cuttack and Bhubanesawar. The official said a detailed inquiry had been launched to ascertain the links of Ashok with Sunil Meher, who used to run a high-profile sex racket in the state.

Arora said a special team was formed to nab the criminals who had been involved in at least 10 theft incidents in Cuttack in the past one year.

The police said surveillance had been kept on the gang's movement after the theft of revenue stamps and other electronic equipment from the post office in Choudwar in March.