Bhubaneswar, June 25: Police have started an awareness drive along the busy Janpath as a preventive measure to curb incidents of loot and snatching.

It has rolled out a van where a constable and an officer from the local police station have been deputed.

They inform people about the preventive measures they can take against crime.

The cops are also distributing leaflets with a general advisory on the issue for the public.

The specially designed van has been disseminating information from 10am to 8pm.

"As a number of business establishments, including jewellery shops and banks, are located along this stretch, we are deploying armed police official here. The awareness drive has started from Kharavela Nagar police station area and would subsequently be extended to Capital and Saheed Nagar police station areas," said deputy commissioner of police, Satyabrata Bhoi.

A number of crimes, especially loot and snatching, have taken place along the Janpath in the recent past.

On October 18, last year criminals had allegedly stolen diamond jewellery worth around Rs 10 lakh from the back seat of a car by breaking the vehicle's side glass near a renowned jewellery shop, only a few meters away from the Kharavela Nagar police station in broad daylight. Senior police officials have also been asked to visit the business establishments and ask shop owners to install closed circuit cameras (CCTV).

Though a number of them have installed CCTVs, the cops said most of them were of poor quality.

"We have also asked the shop owners to trim the trees so that the cameras could cover more area," said a police official.

With Nabakalebar and rath yatra ahead, the police have decided to intensify the awareness drive. Additional forces have been provided to the three police stations, which cover the Janpath area.

"We are also deploying our men in plainclothes in front of banks and jewellery shops," said inspector in charge of Kharavela Nagar police station, Sanjiv Satpathy.

Sources said around six cases of snatching had been reported along the Janpath in past six months. Police said the occupancy chart of all hotels and lodges along the road are also being verified on a daily basis to ensure that criminals do not take shelter in these places.