Man shot dead by chain snatchers, woman critical

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Puri, Jun 10:

Two bike-borne robbers in broad daylight today looted a woman of her ornaments and shot dead her brother-in-law near Satsankha on Bhubaneswar-Puri national highway in Odisha’s Puri district this afternoon.

Eyewitnesses said two bike-borne robbers who were on a Pulsar bike stopped the couple who were also on a bike near Satsankha and snatched the gold necklace from the woman. The robbers shot at the man who tried to resist them in their act. The woman has been also grievously injured in the incident.

Sakhigopal police which arrived at the spot after being informed by the locals sent the couple to Puri district headquarters hospital on an auto-rickshaw where doctors declared the man to be brought dead.

While the deceased person has been identified as Manoranjan Behera, the woman has been identified as Renubala.

Renubala, who is critically injured, is currently admitted to the district headquarters hospital.

“They stopped us, pushed me off and snatched my necklace. Next moment they fired two shots one of which hit my relative. They have also taken away my bangles which I had not noticed,” said an inconsolable Renubala.

“Special Squad has come, different teams have formed. Presently, we are verifying the antecedents of local criminals. We have got some information and are working on it. We are also making plans to prevent the occurrence of similar incidents in the future,” said Jayanta Mohapatra, SDPO Pipili.

“Most probably, they had followed them and after pushing her off the bike they have fired shots. The reason behind the firing is not yet clear. They could have come from Khurda or Delanga. So we have alerted neighbouring IICs and have formed a special team. Our investigation is on,” said Sarthak Sarangi, S P Puri.

The duo hailing from Baghchai village under Mangalpur panchayat in Jajpur district was on its way to Puri to have a darshan of Lord Jagannath.