With the soaring gold prices, it has become dangerous for women to venture outside their homes wearing gold jewellery in the State capital Bhubaneswar. But police are yet to plan a strategy to curb the menace.
In the latest glaring example, two bike-borne miscreants armed with sharp weapons allegedly snatched a gold chain from a woman in Bhubaneswar while she plucking flowers on early Sunday morning. The victim was identified as Anasuya Behera and is a resident of Khandagiri Bari area under the Bharatpur police station in the city.
As per reports, the miscreants followed her while she was out of her home to pluck flowers. One of the biker attacked her with a sharp weapon when she resisted the loot. However, But he managed to snatch the gold chain from her neck before fleeing the spot on the bike.
The loot incident has been recorded in a CCTV camera in the locality which has been scrutinised by the police. Her husband Dr Sharat Kumar Behera, put the blame entirely on the local police. “Snatching has become a common thing in this area as criminals find it easy to loot without any police patrolling.” The snatching menace in the city has become a challenge for the Commissionerate police. Miscreants on power bikes are targeting women even in front of their homes and are able to flee from the spot.
City DCP Umashankar Dash said, “We have been witnessing an average of 50-60 snatching cases per month in the last few years. A majority of these crimes are committed by criminals after getting out on bail.”