Police have cracked the loot of mobile phones worth Rs 40 lakh from a shop in Balangir town on January 15 by arresting three criminals from Bihar.
The cops have recovered 113 stolen phones from the possession of the accused.
The trio was nabbed from near the India-Nepal border while they were planning to smuggle stolen mobile phones into the neighbouring country.
The three accused identified as Kanhaiya Kumar, Miraj Ansari and Kausha Alam have been brought to Odisha on a transit remand following their arres in Bihar.
Police zeroed on the gang by mounting electronic surveillance. Based on the complaint filed by the owner, a case was registered and special teams were formed to crack the case.
“We got some clues based on scientific analysis, including tower dump analysis. During investigation, it was found that the criminals have moved near the Nepal border via Rourkela and Bihar,” said Balangir SP Nitin Kusalkar.
Police said that as several high end mobile phones are yet to be recovered, efforts are on to ascertain the involvement of others involved in the crime.
