Balasore: Police on Monday night arrested four persons for allegedly running a tender syndicate here.

The accused are Nikhil Behera, 25, of Telengasahi village, Hrushikesh Tripathy, 27, of Ganeswarpur, Indramohan Pradhan, 32, of Mendra village and Sk Jamuna, 31, of Sunhat village. They have been booked under several sections, including kidnapping and dacoity, of the Indian Penal Code.They were sent to jail after their bail pleas were rejected.

The police said three others, who were also a part of the syndicate, were still at large.

"The accused have been booked under sections 341, 323, 363, 427, 365 and 395 of the Indian Penal Code," said Industrial police station inspector-in-charge Paresh Rout.

"Three more persons, including the mastermind of the racket, is still at large. We have launched a manhunt to nab them," he said.

The accused had allegedly kidnapped and looted from some people when they were coming to Balasore on Saturday to take part in the tender process for Omfed's dairy farm at Remuna.

They were taken to several places before being let off once the deadline for submitting the tender papers had passed.

The police said Tapas Kumar Sahu, Rupak Mohanty, and Satyaranjan Sahu of Bhubaneswar had engaged their vehicles in transporting dairy products for the past three years after winning the tender.

This year, when they were coming to submit papers for the new tender, they were intercepted near the old campus of Fakir Mohan College and abducted.

They were then taken to several places, including Udla and Baripada, to avoid the police's suspicions.

After the time for submitting the papers was over, they were let off.

The complainants alleged that their vehicle was also damaged and the cash they had on that day was looted.