Armed robbers go on loot spree in Bhubaneswar

Claims of intensified patrolling by Commissionerate Police were belied as armed robbers struck thrice - twice during the day - in the State Capital on Tuesday.
Image for representational purposes (Express Illustrations)
Image for representational purposes (Express Illustrations)

BHUBANESWAR: Claims of intensified patrolling by Commissionerate Police were belied as armed robbers struck thrice - twice during the day - in the State Capital on Tuesday.

In the first incident, Chief Laboratory Superintendent of Railway Hospital Umakanta Mishra, who was on his way to the railway station along with his wife, 14-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son were robbed by three miscreants armed with guns. The trio terrorised the family and robbed Mishra and his wife of gold jewellery.

The family boarded an auto-rickshaw from Gadakana and on the way, noticed three anti-socials of whom one was tying a cloth around his face. Mishra said he alerted the auto-rickshaw driver and asked him to speed up. However, the three managed to intercept them near Adimata Colony. He said while two miscreants were armed with guns, one was holding a rod.

“The anti-socials stayed on the spot for around eight minutes. They asked me to hand over the cash I was carrying but fled after seeing another auto-rickshaw,” he said. Mishra said he was going to Berhampur to attend his father-in-law’s death anniversary rituals. He had to cancel his visit due to the incident. Police said the auto-rickshaw driver’s decision to take a secluded by-lane to reach the railway station instead of the main road is being investigated.

In the second incident in the same locality, a 71-year-old man was robbed by motorcycle-borne miscreants while he was on his morning walk. The anti-socials looted a gold ring from the victim Sadanand Biswal, a retired bank employee.

Zone V ACP Anil Kumar Mishra said it is suspected that the same anti-socials were involved in both the crimes. Further investigation into the incidents is on, he said.

Meanwhile, a City-based second-hand car dealer lodged a complaint with Mancheswar police alleging that unidentified miscreants looted `2 lakh from him at gunpoint on Cuttack-Puri road on Tuesday evening.

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