Balasore, May 27: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) here busted an inter-state gang allegedly involved in looting goods from running trains.

They were nabbed after they took out goods worth nearly Rs 2 lakh from the brake van of the Koraput-bound Samaleswari Express. While three of the looters — Ashok Gupta (38), Siba Saw (35), and Sk Allauddin (42) — were from Jharkhand, two others — Ratnakar Mandal (48) and Abhijit Mandal(34) — hailed from Uluberia in Bengal and the rest were local residents.

Brajamohan Samal (50), a resident of Nuasahi under Sahadevkhunta police station, ran the gang along with his local associate Bishnu Bahadur (21). “

Acting on a tip-off by local villagers, the cops caught hold of four wagon breakers in Balasore station while they were looking for a vehicle to transport the stolen goods.

“The stolen items recovered from the gang members included clothes and automobile and electrical parts worth nearly Rs 2 lakh,” said Amulya Biswal, officer-in-charge Balasore RPF.

“While we nabbed four gang members from Balasore railway station, four others were picked up from the spot,” he said.

Biswal added a case had been lodged against the goons under various sections of Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act.