SAMBALPUR: Posing as police personnel, a group of miscreants allegedly looted gold ornaments worth around `7 lakh from an elderly woman outside Sambalpur district headquarters hospital (DHH) here on Monday morning.
The victim is 65-year-old Shashi Prabha Agrawal of Pani Tanki Pada in Sambalpur town.
Police sources said Agrawal arrived at a physiotherapy centre near the DHH at 9 am. After completing her session, she was waiting for an auto-rickshaw to return home. At around 10.30 am, one of the miscreants approached her and introduced himself as a police officer. Claiming that security officials were calling her, he escorted the elderly woman towards a lane near Aashirbad Nursing Home where three other masked miscreants were waiting.
The miscreants questioned Agrawal over wearing gold jewellery in a ‘sensitive area’ and warned her of possible theft. Gaining her confidence by posing as police personnel, they advised her to remove her ornaments for safety reasons. Trusting them, the woman wrapped her gold chain and bangles, weighing around five tola, in paper and handed those over to the men.
The miscreants allegedly replaced the gold ornaments with plastic bangles and returned a packet to Agrawal. The woman realised she was duped only after the men fled and she opened the packet to find plastic ornaments inside. She immediately alerted her family and filed a complaint in Town police Station.
Police said basing on the complaint, a case was registered and an investigation has been launched. Footage of CCTV cameras from nearby locations has been obtained. The visuals of the suspects are being examined. While three of the four accused were wearing masks, the face of one miscreant is clearly visible in the footage.
Preliminary investigation suggests that the miscreants fled towards Maneswar via Dhanupali on a motorcycle bearing a fake registration number. Efforts are underway to identify the miscreants and nab them, said police.