Baripada, May 5: Mayurbhanj police yesterday arrested two members of an inter-state gang involved in truck thefts.
The accused have been identified as Sk Amzad Ali, 28, of Kendrai village and Sk Abdullah, 27, of Tentiposa village. Both are undergoing treatment after being roughed up by enraged villagers while they were attempting to steal a truck that belonged to one Ganesh Mahanta of Rairangpur town.
The police said they were part of a big inter-state truck-stealing gang and would be questioned after they recover.
Inspector in-charge of Rairangpur Town police station Pradip majhi said: "They are part of a seven-member gang. The others are at large."
"A case has been registered against the two on the charge of attempting to commit dacoity," he said.
The police said late on Saturday, seven persons came to Nagran village in an SUV and had attempted to flee with the truck that was parked near the house of Ganesh Mahanta.
Three villagers found the unknown SUV and Mahanta's truck with its ignition on. Suspicious, when they approached the truck, the goons fled in their car.
Yesterday, two of them - Amzad Ali and Abdullah - had come again to the village in the same car. The villagers recognised them and handed them over to the police after beating them up.
The registration number of the SUV showed it belonged to Champua in Keonjhar district. The police said after stealing the trucks, they would dismantle them outside the state and then dispose them of to scrap dealers.