Mineral thieves give cops the slip

KOIDA: Two big-time mineral thieves Ganesh Jaiswal and his brother, Mahesh Jaiswal, who had recently returned to illegal mining, managed to give police the slip on Monday night. Koida Police, however, seized 10 tonnes of illegal iron ore lumps and two vehicles.On Monday night, the police intercepted an iron ore-laden tipper, escorted by a jeep, near Sargigarh forest area of Koida in Sundargarh district.The occupants of the vehicles managed to flee taking advantage of the darkness and the forest cover.Bonai SDPO Amresh Panda said investigation revealed that the vehicles and the iron ore belonged to the Jaiswal brothers. A manhunt is on to nab them, he added.Separately, two mineral thieves Sonu Jaiswal and Tapan Barik, wanted by the police, were arrested from Koida and Patmunda areas and produced in court on Tuesday.