Keonjhar, June 3: Police today arrested seven members of a gang involved in stealing trucks. Two stolen trucks have been seized from them.

The gangsters used to steal trucks from several parts of Keonjhar and Jajpur districts and sell them to scrap dealers in Jharkhand, Bihar and Bengal. They used to target drivers of tippers and 10-wheelers who stopped at roadside eateries. The police are looking for more persons.

A tipper-owner of Champaran district in Bihar, whose vehicle was stolen from Barbil in Keonjhar district, had reported the matter to the local police station last Friday.

“The owner, whose tipper was stolen, gave the a name of a suspect. We interrogated the suspect and checked his antecedents. During interrogation, he revealed many things and on the basis of those, we arrested six of his accomplishes from Chandikhole and nearby areas in Jajpur district on Monday. We also recovered two stolen tippers from their possession,” said Ajay Kumar Mishra, inspector in charge of Barbil police station.

The arrested members of the racket confessed to have stolen a number of tippers and 10-wheelers from various parts of Keonjhar and Jajpur districts, he said, adding that they also told the police about the places where they had kept the two stolen vehicles.

“The gang usually targeted tippers and 10-wheelers at Joda, Barbil, Naranpur, Daitary, Kalinga Nagar, Chadhedhara and Chandikhole along the highways in Keonjhar and Jajpur districts. They stole the vehicles when the drivers and helpers stopped at roadside eateries for meals. They drove a stolen vehicle to a nearby forest, changed its colour and number plate, and drove it to their desired destination. They later dismantled the vehicle and sold it to scrap dealers in Jharkhand, Bihar and Bengal at throwaway prices,” he said.

“It is a very big racket and there are many other people involved in it. We have only arrested seven persons and recovered two vehicles. We are on the lookout for others and will arrest them soon. At present, we are not disclosing the name of the arrested persons because it may hamper our investigation,” said Keonjhar superintendent of police Kavita Jalan.