BHUBANESWAR: Criminals and anti-socials seem to have a free run in the Twin City. They are killing people at will, robbing them with ease and barging into houses without a care for the men in khaki.
The three brutal murders in Cuttack in a span of 24 to 36 hours have only signalled that not everything is okay. Not very recently, miscreants almost chopped off the hand of a woman near Ghatikia in Bhubaneswar when she resisted their attempt to rob.
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Senior citizens were targeted by armed criminals who broke into their houses in broad day light at several places and decamped with cash and valuables.
At least numbers don’t lie. By fourth week of July, the total number of dacoities in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack stood at 34. In all of 2018, it was 37.
So far, 245 robberies have been reported in the two cities whereas last year’s count was 282. With 210 burglaries and 1,515 theft cases, the numbers are soaring in the Twin City.
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Add the cases that go unreported and the figures would be intimidating.
With the State Government too occupied with election matters which came to an end on Wednesday at Patkura, it has turned a blind eye to the situation in the twin seat of power - Bhubaneswar and Cuttack - as a growing perception prevails that policing, in general, has slipped.
A simple analysis would reveal how it is panning out. A rise in offences like dacoity and robbery indicates the growing tentacles of career criminals who are no more targeted by police.
As police stations call the shots and senior officers show little involvement, crime prevention and detection has fallen a few notches down with the art of good old intelligence-gathering consigned to the dustbin.
Despite being provided modern equipment, improved technology and more resources, the state of policing has only worsened. Traffic management has collapsed as violators rule the roads.
A sense of complacency among law enforcers is palpable as people feel increasingly unsafe. Commissionerate Police did not look so toothless in last 11 years of its existence.