For the last few months, looters seem to have changed their modus operandi here. Posing them as police, they are looting valuables targeting senior citizens and elders who are on a morning walk or on an outing.
According to information available, a senior citizen and a retired teacher, Bijaya Chandra Panda, who is a resident of Housing Board under Gosaninuagaon Police circle, has become the victim of looters recently. When Panda was on a walk from his residence here on Thursday afternoon, two unidentified miscreants came close to him and stopped him from walking for a while posing them as cops. The miscreants also told Panda to remove the gold chain from the neck and ring immediately, advising that wearing such valuables are unsafe. The moment Panda obliged, they snatched the ornaments and decamped.
Similarly, on last Monday night in an another incident, a group of armed miscreants who had covered their faces, looted cash and gold ornaments after barging into house of a former bank employee M Kanaka Raju, a resident of Vijay Vihar under Sadar Police circle of Brahmapur.
According to reports, the miscreants executed the loot at the residence of Raju and reportedly thrashed him and attacked him with sharp weapons for opposing the crime. The miscreants robbed gold ornaments weighing around 100 gram and cash worth Rs 15,000, sources said. They locked the family members in a room before fleeing the spot. The police are suspecting the involvement of a professional gang in the crime and investigation is on.
Similarly, at the end of last year, a woman, who did not wish to be identified, fell prey to four cunning robbers as they looted around 150 gram of gold ornaments from her by posing themselves as policemen while she had gone for a morning walk on Sunday near the Sita Devi Khadanga Girls’ Hostel. Interestingly, the looter advised the woman to remove her gold ornaments from her body citing security reasons. As the scared woman started doing so, the miscreants threatened her at gun point and looted the valuables. On being informed, the Brahmapur Town police reached the spot and started investigation, sources said.
A few days back, when the wife of a local senior BJP leader Kamana Padhi was on a morning walk, two unidentified miscreants came behind and stopped Padhi near Sashi Bhusan Rath Government Women’s College posing them as cops and threatened Padhi to remove all gold ornaments she wore. Soon, they snatched 15 tolas of gold ornaments worth Rs 4. 5 lakh and fled the spot.
Similarly, on February 10 this year when an old couple from Bhubaneswar came to Brahmapur to attend a marriage ceremony, two unidentified youths came close to the couple near Jayaprakash Nagar Chhak under Badyanathpur police circle and posed them as CBI officials. The miscreants then asked the couple to remove all the gold ornaments they wore at that time citing security reasons and took away 8 tolas of gold worth Rs 2. 4 lakh.
In a similar fashion on February 24, Parbati Behera was robbed of 7 tolas of gold ornaments by miscreants posing them as police.
In view of the rising incidents of loot and snatching, there is a strong public perception that police need to intensify their patrolling in groups to each and every interior lanes of the city.