BHUBANESWAR: Is Bhubaneswar unsafe for women joggers? Two morning walkers had a traumatic experience when they were held hostage at knifepoint by three masked robbers who assaulted one of them at Nandankanan Road on Thursday morning.
Taking advantage of night patrolling which ends at 7 am, the three bike-borne anti-socials intercepted the two women on the bridge, a few hundred meters from their housing society Tapaswini Apartments.
The two were returning from morning walk when the miscreants blocked their passage near Raghunathpur bridge. One of the criminals took out a machete and put it around the neck of one victim while clasping the hand of the other. The second anti-social came up with a knife to help his associate while the third grabbed the legs of the two women so that they couldn’t escape. One woman, however, managed to free herself and ran seeking for help even as people remained mute spectators to the crime.
“My friend fell on the road and the anti-socials had covered her face with her hooded jacket. They assaulted her and demanded her gold chain and bracelet. I cried for help but the passers-by turned a deaf ear,” said the victim’s friend. When some people gathered at the spot, the trio fled on a motorcycle with the stolen gold ornaments towards Patia.
Scarred and traumatized, the two women called 100 but they asked them to contact Nandankanan police station. Sources said, the miscreants were smart enough to notice that shift of night patrolling vans ends between 6.30 am and 7 am and targeted the two women at around 7 am as they are aware that the patrolling stops for a few minutes during the changeover.
A case has been registered under Sections 392 and 34 of IPC. CCTV footage of the nearby areas is being scanned to identify the miscreants, said an officer of Nandankanan police station. However, the incident has led to fear not just for women but also for senior citizens who are often targets of such miscreants.
This is not for the first time that pedestrians were targeted by the snatchers in the city. A Rangamatia resident, Bidyadhar Barik, was returning from Maa Basulai Youth Association club in the area when he was robbed at about 3 pm on January 1. The miscreant snatched Barik’s mobile phone and fled from the spot.
In another instance, two anti-socials posing themselves as Crime Branch officers allegedly stopped an elderly couple in Patia under Infocity police limits and stole one gold chain and a ring from them on December 21 when they were returning to their house after an evening walk. No arrests have been made in both cases yet.