Retired Bureaucrat Robbed In Bhubaneswar’s Posh Locality

Bhubaneswar: How safe is the Odisha capital for the elderly and retired people? The answer is unsafe, if recent incidents are any indication.

Days after five criminals snatched a gold chain from a retired district judge in the city, a former IAS officer, Bhaskar Chandra Patnaik, was victim to a similar crime.

According to reports, three bike-borne goons snatched his smartphone and fled while the elderly man was taking his walk on Tuesday evening.

Shockingly, the snatching was reported from Bhubaneswar’s posh Forest Park area, which is home to ministers and senior bureaucrats.

Patnaik’s son Rabindra has lodged a complaint at Capital police station. He told police that the phone’s last location was seen near an alcohol outlet on the Rajmahal Square-Sishu Bhawan road around 5.40 pm.

On their part, local residents have blamed laxity in security for the crime. They said a PCR van used to be stationed near Biju Patnaik Park during morning and evening hours. But as the park is closed due to the pandemic, the van is nowhere to be seen these days.

Bhubaneswar has seen a spurt in robberies and snatchings in recent times. According to police data, 193 such cases were reported in the city in 2017. The number went up to 266 in 2019 and it was 330 till November 2020.