BHUBANESWAR: Six persons, including a medicine store owner, were arrested on Saturday for allegedly drugging and looting people arriving at the bus stand and railway station in the city.
Police have also seized three gold chains weighing 40 grams, 18 strips of Ativan 2 mg, one motorcycle and six mobile phones from their possession.
The arrested are Simanchala Subudhi and Basanta Sahu of Ganjam district, Susanta Rout of Nayagarh, medicine store owner Sanjay Mishra and two receivers Nalu Sahu of Salia Sahi and Kalia Nayak of Tangi.
Police said Simanchala, Basanta and Susanta were staying on rent in the city and undertaking long-distance journeys to places such as Berhampur in trains and buses to befriend the passengers travelling to the Capital.
Sanjay, who has a medicine store at Rajsunakhala, was allegedly selling drugs to the trio without any prescriptions and despite being aware that they will utilise the sedatives to commit crimes.
Speaking to mediapersons, Commissioner of Police Saumendra Priyadarshi said the trio used to extend assistance to the visitors in their personal works and also offer them lifts after they arrived in the city.
“After befriending the victims, the accused used to offer them tea, coffee, cold drinks, snacks, and biscuits laced with Ativan 2 mg tablets to make them unconscious. They then used to steal the valuables from the people and leave them at public places,” he told reporters.
The three miscreants were also involved in eight other such cases in the city.
Their test identification parade will be conducted soon, said police.
In the past couple of months, three cases of drugging and looting gold ornaments and cash were reported under Capital and Bharatpur police limits following which the Special Squad had launched an operation to nab the culprits involved in the crimes.
Meanwhile, officials of ‘Sahaya’, a voluntary organisation treating victims of drugging at Capital Hospital here, said they attend around five to 15 victims of such offences every month.
They had attended 175 victims in 2019 and 54 in 2020.