Bhubaneswar, June 4: Two motorcycle-borne criminals allegedly robbed newly-weds of jewellery worth over Rs 5 lakh last night near Acharya Vihar Square while the couple were on their way to Kendrapara after the wedding ceremony.
Swadesh Malik, 32, and Purnamasi Malik, 28, got married yesterday at a temple in Niladri Vihar. They were going to Kendrapara, where Swadesh’s home is, in a car along with the bride’s brother. Their relatives, who were following them in two other vehicles, had taken another road from Nalco Square.
“As soon as the vehicle reached the Pathani Samant Planetarium around 1.30am, two masked men on a motorcycle stopped the car. They took away the keys of the vehicle and snatched our gold ornaments at gun point,” said Shatanu Mallick, brother of the bride.
He said the ornaments weighing more than 200 grams included 10 gold rings, two necklaces and gold bangles.
Swadesh is a government employee in Kendrapara while his wife Purnamasi is schoolteacher in Bhubaneswar.
Saheed Nagar police are investigating the crime, said deputy commissioner of police, Bhubaneswar, Nitinjeet Singh. The police are also interrogating Purnamasi’s brother.
This is the second incident of motorcycle-borne goons robbing people at gunpoint in the past two weeks.
On May 27, three armed hoodlums had robbed two brothers at Postal Colony in VSS Nagar. The robbers had decamped with a gold necklace, rings and Rs 20,000 in cash. The goons are yet to be nabbed.
Such incidents have become a cause of worry for people.
“Robbers use guns nowadays, which is dangerous. We are trying to find out whether a particular group is involved in such incidents,” said a senior police officer.