Even as the general elections are drawing near fast, criminals demonstrated their strength once again in this city in a daredevil manner in broad daylight at gunpoint near KK Complex under the Town police station on Wednesday.
There was blank fire exchange between a gang of three miscreants and the police at around noon. One criminal succeeded in escaping unnoticed while the police chased and detained the remaining two, one of whom being Siddhartha Pattnaik, a resident of Khodasingi on the outskirts of the city who tried to flee in a car, the vehicle met with an accident in which he along with a police constable on duty was injured. The police also recovered the numberless car and three cell phones from the criminals.
The police, however, did not disclose the name of the other miscreant who has been detained, perhaps apprehending its impact on investigation, sources said.According to reports, four persons, including a woman, came by a numberless green car and were buying some articles in a shopping mall at the busiest Telephone Bhavan road in the heart of the city.
The police got the information from reliable sources that a known criminal, Prakash Karad, was one among the four in the mall. While the miscreants were about to leave by the car, a police squad, which had reached there, tried to nab them. In the meantime, one of the miscreants, namely, Siddhanta increased the accelerator of the car and hit a rickshaw. He then sped en route the Stadium-Gandhinagar-Bijipur Tank road to escape from the police.
But Siddhanta became nervous and lost his balance and as result the car passed through a big pothole and he fell out of the vehicle and sustained injuries. The constable who was following the vehicle was also injured as his motorbike hit the car.
Meanwhile, miscreant Prasant, who was in the car, came out and started indiscriminate blank firing to create terror and succeeded in fleeing from the spot by the another person’s bike, which was parked on the roadside, in film style. When he was going en route the Kukudakhandi-Baigana Badi road, the police followed him, but in vain.
Taking advantage of the situation, the female criminal who was sitting in the car managed to escape from the spot. Sidhanta, who was admitted in a private hospital, was later shifted to the MKCG Medical College Hospital.
A number of cases of murder, dacoity and burglary have been pending against Prasant, who has been absconding since 2011. The police have, in the meantime, detained two of his associates for interrogation.
In another incident, some miscreants bombarded their target places at Keuta Street and Utkal Cinema Square on Wednesday night, causing panic among the locals.Similarly, near the Saata Bhauni Temple at Gaunju under the Gopalpur police station, a band of unidentified miscreants attacked a labour contractor, Suresh Das (40), with sharp weapons, leaving him with multiple injuries. The police reached the spot and took him to the MKCG Medical College Hospital. The reason of the attack was not yet known.