Miscreants Snatch Gold Chains From Devotees At Puri Loknath Temple; One Detained

The elderly woman who managed to nab the chain-snatcher and (right) a relative shows her gold chain

Puri: Taking advantage of the huge rush of devotees at the Loknath temple here on the occasion of Maha Shivratri on Tuesday, some miscreants looted gold chains from two women devotees.

However, one woman managed to nab the chain-snatcher who tried to escape but was nabbed by others in the queue.

In the first incident, one Saraswati Pallei of Brahmagiri block and her husband were standing in a queue on the temple premises for a darshan when she found her chain missing. Her husband lodged a complaint at Baseli Sahi police station. They claimed that the gold chain was around 14 grams.

Another elderly woman, Anjana Pallai of Jagatsinghpur district managed to grab the chain snatcher, who was later detained by police.

Anjana was visiting the Loknath temple with her family and were waiting to buy prasad in front of the temple when a woman robber tried to rob Anjana of her chain. Anjana apprehended the robber, who pushed her and was fleeing when locals nabbed and handed her over to police.

Additional SP Mihir Kumar Panda said a woman robber has been detained and vigil has been tightened for the security of devotees.