BERHAMPUR: Ganjam police on Tuesday busted a gang of goat lifters and arrested six of its members from Khurda district. As many as 70 goats, 80 sheep, two SUVs, three motorcycles, five mobile phones and two swords were seized from them.
The gang stole goats and sheep from areas within Bhanjanagar and Jagannathprasad police limits and transported them to Nayagarh, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. Police swung into action after the gang lifted 32 goats belonging to one Udaya Gouda in Baragaon within Belaguntha police outpost on January 8.
They forcibly took away the goats from Udaya’s stable in two SUVs. When Udaya and his wife tried to resist, they were threatened with swords. The police had registered a case and a team led by Bhanjanagar SDPO Subhransu Sekhar Mishra raided several places in Khurda, Cuttack and Puri districts and finally arrested the members of the gang.
The modus operandi of the gang involved moving around in the evening to spot flocks without shepherds on the outskirts of villages. They saved the Google location of the spot on WhatsApp. At night, they would return and load the animals on their vehicles. The gang used Google maps to find out easy routes to escape police checking.