In the wake of agitation against the Puri police for growing lawlessness in the city by the Puri Bar Association members demanding transfer of the Superintendent of Police since last fortnight, suddenly the police swung into action and on Friday with Puri SP Sarthak Sarangi holding a Press meet and claiming to have nabbed the accused persons involved in three separate crimes against tourists.
All the three incidents happened within two months near the Sea Bach police station and close to the official residence of the SP along the VIP Road.
Sarangi said two persons were involved in cash bag and mobile phone snatching from tourists while they were moving by rickshaw or walking along the VIP Road. The accused driver has been identified as Saroj Kei (25) of Gangadharpur village and the helper is a minor.
The driver and the helper after parking the bus moved away by a bike and targeted the tourists mostly on the VIP Road, he said.
The police have recovered five mobile phones and a bike from their possession. The accused have confessed to having committed all the three crimes. They were forwarded to the Puri SDJM Court, which remanded them to judicial custody while the minor was sent to juvenile custody.