Bhubaneswar: Amidst festive season, the capital city seems to be witnessing a surge in crime rate posing a daunting challenge for the Commissionerate Police. Wednesday evening, two-bike borne miscreants allegedly snatched a gold chain from a woman's neck while she was riding pillion on a bike with her husband in Kharavela Nagar area here.
Following a complaint with Kharavela Nagar Police, a probe has been launched in connection with the incident.
Reports said Sitaram Bhuyan and his wife Tripali Jena, from Postal Colony in Bhubaneswar were returning from Unit-II market at around 8.30 PM when two miscreants in a bike intercepted them and fled the scene after snatching the gold chain from Tripali.
"Though I chased them on my bike for some distance, they vanished somewhere in the lanes. We also screamed for help but no one came to our rescue. Police should immediately take steps to curb the growing incidents of crime," said Sitaram Bhuyan.
"The incident took place when we were returning home after shopping. The market value of the gold chain is estimated to be around Rs 1.30 lakh," claimed Tripali Jena.
Last week, a medicine shop owner aged 75 was brutally assaulted and looted of gold ornaments on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.
Similarly, a few miscreants looted cash and gold ornaments worth around Rs 7 lakh from the residence of a professor at the Odisha University of Agriculture Technology (OUAT) on October 29. Apart from cash and gold ornaments, the miscreants decamped with a laptop, mobile phones and other valuables from the house. A day before that, a senior engineer working with Central Tool Room and Training Centre here was attacked with a sharp weapon by unidentified miscreants during a loot bid at Sailashree Vihar here. He was out to pluck flowers in the morning when the incident happened.
(Edited By Devbrat Patnaik)