Bhubaneswar: Looting people after drugging them has emerged as a major crime in the city with 86 such cases reported till October 17, 2016.
According to NGO Sahaya, which runs a patient information and assistance service at the Capital Hospital, around 86 drugged persons were admitted to the medical institute in 2016. Sahaya secretary Kailash Sarangi told Orissa POST that most of the drugged persons were brought by commissionerate police officials.
“In the last two years we have cured around 200 drugged patients admitted in Capital Hospital. Two persons were rushed to Capital Hospital Monday after they were reportedly drugged and looted,” he said.
Police and NGO members say miscreants usually target people coming from areas like Keonjhar, Sambalpur, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Rayagada, etc.
“They first befriend victims at railway station and bus stand in Baramunda area here, offer them spiked tea, cold drinks, chocolate, coffee, etc and loot their belongings. The miscreants then leave the unconscious victims at secluded places and flee,” they added.
A person, Samson Medango of Padmapur, claimed that he was looted near Baramunda bus stand after being offered spiked butter biscuits almost seven months back when he had came to Bhubaneswar for an interview for the post of a security official at a private firm.
“I came from Padmapur to Bhubaneswar by bus. I was sitting at Baramunda bus stand when a man came and sat beside me. He first befriended me and then requested me to accompany him to purchase a mobile phone for his son saying that he did not have sound knowledge about smartphones,” he said.
“On the way, the man offered me butter biscuits but I told him that I already had my lunch. However, he insisted me to have at least one biscuit. I started feeling dizzy after I ate it. I became unconscious and fell down. The man looted Rs 8,000 and one Lava mobile phone from me and fled. I was rushed to Capital Hospital and the NGO members looked after me. After I recovered I started working for the same NGO,” he added.
Capital Hospital sources said that police admit the victims and leave without probing the matter.
“Hospital officials send medico-legal case (MLC) of such incidents to police officials but cops do not investigate these matters. So miscreants continue to commit such crimes,” they added.
Bhubaneswar DCP Satyabrata Bhoi said that such cases are handled both by GRP and commissionerate police. “The cases of drugging and looting people are mostly reported from railway station and bus stand here. We are also working in a coordinated way to bust such rackets,” he added.
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