Bhubaneswar: On the eve of the Odisha capital’s Foundation Day, residents pleaded for better policing in the city while citing the spurt in crimes in the last couple of months. Several incidents of murder and frequent snatchings have exposed loopholes in the functioning of the police, they pointed out.
The city registered at least five murder cases in the last couple of months, including the sensational killing of cameraman Manas Swain, few weeks back. Miscreants brutally attacked a homeless couple near the PMG Square on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, leading to the death of the husband. The victim’s wife also sustained injuries in the attack.
Sources said a total of 11 homeless persons living on footpaths have been murdered in the last few months. The city police have failed miserably to protect the homeless people, said a social activist.
Incidents of snatching have also gone up significantly in the capital city in recent days. The city had witnessed a steep rise in theft, robbery and cheating cases in 2021 as compared to the previous year.
“Lack of proper police patrolling at night is the main reason for the rise in crimes in the city. Staff crunch is the main reason behind inadequate patrolling,” said a source within the department.
Police Commissioner Saumendra Priyadarsi said, “We have been working with the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) to make the capital city safe. Recently, 500 CCTV cameras have been installed at different places of Bhubaneswar by the civic authorities. This will help the police to have better surveillance on anti-social elements and traffic rules violators. We have recently included three new vans to our patrolling fleet and more such vehicles would be arranged in future to boost patrolling. We are focusing on raising our staff strength in view of the constant rise in city population.”