BHUBANESWAR: Incidents of loot continue unabated in the State Capital. On Thursday, the mobile phone of a woman was snatched by two motorcycle-borne miscreants.
The incident occurred just around one km from Mancheswar police station. The victim, Babita Chalan of VSS Nagar, who works with a private organisation in Mancheswar Industrial Estate, was on way to office and was talking on her mobile phone when she was waylaid by the two miscreants at around 9.30 am. The duo snatched her mobile phone and fled the spot. Babita alleged that people nearby remained mute spectators even as she screamed for help. Later, she lodged a complaint with Mancheswar police in this regard.
Mancheswar IIC Jatindra Nath Sethy said a case has been registered and investigation into the matter is on. He said if the victim’s mobile phone is switched on, then it can be traced within 15 days.While seven incidents of snatching have been reported in the City between July 24 and August 1, police have failed to nab any of the miscreants involved in the crimes. On July 24, a woman working as an accountant at Balipatna branch of Khurda Central Cooperative Bank was dragged on the road and robbed by two motorcycle-borne miscreants near Dhauli. The victim, Sabita Rani Mohapatra of Unit VIII, was returning home with one of her colleagues on a bike at around 6 pm when the two miscreants tried to snatch her vanity bag.
Mohapatra fell down from the motorcycle but she clung on to her bag despite being dragged by the miscreants for 40-50 feet on the road. She was repeatedly kicked following which she lost grip and the miscreants fled with the bag. She sustained serious bruises in the incident. The victim’s vanity bag had five gold rings, an ATM card and important documents. The miscreants even withdrew money using her ATM card.
Surprisingly, despite having the CCTV footage of the crime scene and the ATM kiosks, the police have so far not managed to trace the culprits.Meanwhile, police said blocking and checking have been intensified in the City. “Suspects are being questioned and a fingerprint scanning system is being used to verify whether they have any criminal antecedents,” a police officer said.