Bhubaneswar, March 9: Two motorcycle-borne goons today snatched a 12-gram gold chain from a woman near Master Canteen Square, exposing the lack of policing that has emboldened criminals.

The snatchers targeted a couple going from Master Canteen Square to Sishu Bhavan on a scooty. “Two men on a motorcycle came close to us and yanked away my wife’s chain. Both of us fell. We shouted for help, but no one came to our rescue,” said Subrat Rath, a retired engineer in the irrigation department.

The incident took place at 8.30am. Later, both of them, who had suffered multiple injuries, were taken to Capital Hospital. “The goons had been following us from Master Canteen Square,” said Rath, who stays at Badagada Brit Colony.

On February 22, two goons had snatched a 20-gram gold chain from a businessman on the Raj Mahal flyover around 10am.

The increasing frequency of snatching incidents has worried both residents and police. Such criminals usually operate on motorcycles and escape with impunity. “These snatchers do not fear the police. Women are no longer safe to go outside wearing gold ornaments,” said Ganesh Panigrahy, a senior citizen.

The police said they had started a manhunt to nab the culprits. “A gang is operating in the city and its members usually operate on motorcycles. We have caught several such goons in the recent past,” said a senior police official.

Six in custody

Police picked up four goons from Pokhariput last night while they were planning a robbery and seized firearms and bombs from the criminals.

Sources said the cops were conducting more raids and trying to nab three more members of the gang.

Acting on a tip-off, the police officials, who are on alert for the election and conducting raids to take criminals in preventive custody, raided the house at Pokhariput and picked up the four.

Sources said these men were involved in several bombings and robbery cases in the city and other parts of the state.

The team of cops waited for two hours outside the house to arrest the culprits. They later checked one of the bombs in an open field outside the residential area.

A local resident said these youths had come few days ago to stay in a rented house in the area. The landlord was from Cuttack and he rented out his house instead of checking the antecedents of these people.

The incident has triggered panic among the local people because they fear that such criminals might be staying in the area disguised as students.

“Though most house owners do not rent out their houses to youths or students, some landlords, who do not stay here, rent their houses out to random people,” said local resident Lambodhar Das.

Moreover, the residents said they would meet the police commissioner seeking more such drives against the criminals hiding in residential areas and make it mandatory for the house owners to verify the antecedents of the tenants.

The city police had made it mandatory for the house owners to keep all the data about the tenants and check their antecedents with the police. But, few follow the norm.