BHUBANESWAR: Six persons, including a medicine store owner and three miscreants, were arrested on Saturday for allegedly drugging and looting people arriving at the bus stand and railway station in Bhubaneswar.
The police have seized three gold chains weighing 40 grams, 18 strips of Ativan 2 mg, one motorcycle, and six mobile phones from their possessions.
The arrestees are Simanchala Subudhi and Basanta Sahu of Ganjam district and Susanta Rout of Nayagarh, medicine store owner Sanjay Mishra and two receivers Nalu Sahu of Salia Sahi and Kalia Nayak of Tangi in Khurda.
Police sources 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 traveling to the capital.
Mishra, who has a medicine store in Khurda district's Rajsunakhala, was allegedly selling drugs to the three miscreants without any prescriptions and despite being aware that the trio will utilize the sedatives to commit crimes.
Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police Commissioner Saumendra Kumar Priyadarshi said the trio used to extend assistance to the visitors in their personal works and also offer them lifts after they arrive 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 at least eight other such cases in the city. Their test identification parade (TIP) will be conducted, said police.
In the past couple of months, three cases of drugging and looting gold ornaments and cash were reported under the jurisdiction of Capital and Bharatpur police stations following which Special Squad had launched an operation to nab the culprits involved in these crimes.
Priyadarshi also cautioned the people visiting the city in trains and buses to remain cautious and not interact with strangers. The senior police officer also warned the medicine store owners to not sell drugs without prescriptions.
Bhubaneswar DCP Umashankar Dash and Special Squad ACP Sanjeev Sathpathy were also present at the press conference.
Meanwhile, the officials of 'Sahaya', a non-governmental organization (NGO) treating victims of drugging at Capital Hospital here, said they attend on an average five to 15 victims of such offences every month. The NGO had attended 175 victims of drugging in 2019 and 54 in 2020.