Police are on the lookout for an auto-rickshaw driver, who looted cash and ornaments from an elderly woman and her daughter, a resident of Mahulia village after offering them spurious drinks on Saturday.
Kumuda Rout said his mother Kumudini Rout and grandmother Aseli Pradhan were on their way to his sister’s house at Odagan on Saturday to attend the engagement of his niece a day before her marriage.
“After hiring an auto from our village, they reached the Petapalli Chhak. While they were waiting for the bus to Odagan, an auto-rickshaw came from Sharankul and took them in his auto-rickshaw. The driver stopped the vehicle at the Canal Chhak near Nandighar and offered them cold drinks by adding sedatives. He took them to Krushnaprasad under Ranpur, as the duo became unconscious. He dumped my mother near a school. later, he took grandmother to Rajsunakhala hospital and fled the area after leaving her on the hospital verandah,” he added.
The auto driver looted cash from his grandmother and mother and the ornaments, after they became unconscious, he added.
He said his mother has regained her conscious while his grandmother is still lying unconscious.
Asked about the incident, Nayagarh SP Manoranjan Mohanty said the incident is the first of its kind in Nayagarh district.
“I have information that some auto drivers of the district, who were arrested by the police and have been released from the jail recently. Police is keeping a close watch on these criminals,” he added.