Cuttack: Police foiled a plan to loot at petrol pump at Kandarpur area and arrested two persons on Sunday night.

The cops nabbed Umesh Behera, 36, a resident of Biridi in Jagatsinghpur, and Rajesh Sethi, 40, of Darghabazar in Cuttack, while four others managed to escape. They also seized a country-made firearm loaded with one round and four live jute bombs kept in a gunny bag.

Four plastic glasses, two water bottles, a match-box and two empty bottles of whisky were also seized from the spot, the police said.

Kandarpur police station inspector-in-charge Abhimanyu Das said they received a tip-off about criminals assembling at a lonely place near Nimeisapur canal around 11.30pm, equipped with arms and other deadly weapons. A six-member gang had hatched the conspiracy after learning that there was a lot of cash at the Nahabhanga petrol pump.

Acting on the tip-off, Das and a team raided the place, apprehending the two persons.

"The police arrested the accused as they were armed with firearms and ammunition without any licence or authority and preparing to loot the petrol pump," deputy commissioner of police, Cuttack, Akhileswar Singh said.

"During interrogation, the accused disclosed that they are associates of veteran criminal Nihar Das, who is lodged in Choudwar Jail as an accused in a murder case. The group had assembled at the area on the direction of Nihar, and were led by his father, Dilip Das. They also planned to terrorise the witnesses of the murder case for which Nihar was lodged in jail," Singh said.

The four accused who managed to escape have been identified as Dilip and Nitish Das of Anthuary, Balianta, Purnachandra Behera of Khannagar, Cuttack, A. Jaga of Kissanagar.