BHUBANESWAR: A senior journalist of a vernacular daily was attacked with an iron road and robbed off his mobile phone while he was returning home after a morning walk on Friday.
Sources said two anti-socials waylaid scribe Satya Sundar Bhanja (51) under Nayapalli police limits at about 5 am and asked him to hand over his mobile phone. While one of the two started assaulting him as he refused to yield, the other hit an iron rod on his head.
Frightened and hurt, Satya had no option but to give his cell phone to the miscreants. He reached home at Satabadi Nagar, about 300 metre from the place, and informed his brother about the incident.
"My brother started bleeding as he was attacked with an iron rod. He was apprehensive that the miscreants would continue to beat him if he did not give the mobile phone. He then took out his mobile phone worth over Rs 25,000 and handed over the device to the duo," the victim's brother Dukhishyam Bhanja told The New Indian Express.
The victim was rushed to Capital Hospital where he had about nine stitches on his head. On receiving information, the inspectors of Nayapalli and Khandagiri police stations met Satya in the hospital and assured him that the accused will be nabbed at the earliest.
"A case has been registered under Section 394 of IPC and a probe has been launched to identify and nab the culprits involved in the robbery," said an officer of Nayapalli police station.
Snatchers are on the prowl in the Capital city and are targeting morning and evening walkers.
In July, three bike-borne miscreants had allegedly robbed off retired IAS officer Bhaskar Chandra Patnaik when he was taking his evening walk near the posh Forest Park area here.
The State reported 193 incidents of robbery in 2017, 194 in 2018, 266 in 2019, and 330 till November 2020.