Bhubaneswar, Dec. 28: Four criminals today went on a looting spree on the Puri bypass near Lingipur, snatching valuables from morning walkers.

The criminals robbed three persons of three gold rings, one gold chain and one mobile phone within 15 minutes and fled.

All the victims, who are in their 30s, said they were taking a walk when the criminals on a motorcycle approached them, threatened them with a machete and decamped with their valuables.

While the goons snatched one gold ring each from Smurti Ranjan Mishra and Nihar Ranjan Chualsingh, another victim Prabhas Ranjan Sahoo lost his gold ring, gold chain and mobile phone.

All the snatchings took place between 6.30am and 6.45am within a radius of 200 metres of Dhauli police station.

"I was walking towards the Sai temple when they intercepted me and asked me to handover my valuables. Before I could realise what is happening, one of the criminals forcefully took away my ring and another goon snatched my gold chain. Later, they asked me to handover my mobile phone. When I resisted, one of them, who was wielding a machete, started assaulting me, so I handed over my mobile phone to them," said Prabhas, who suffered injuries on his knee.

"The goons stopped their motorcycle near me and asked about directions to some place they apparently wanted to go. But this was a ruse as while I was talking to one of them, another whipped out a machete and asked me to handover my gold ring," alleged another victim, Smurti Ranjan.

Puri bypass, which is used by thousands of morning walkers, has turned into a den for snatchers. In March, four snatching cases were reported from the area, all the victims being morning walkers. "Very few vehicles ply on the road in the morning. The snatchers take this opportunity and target the morning walkers," said a local resident.

Police said all the four snatchers were in their early 20s. "We have started an investigation after registering a case. We have also made a list of snatchers, who were recently released from jail to ascertain whether anyone of them was involved in the crime," said Satyabrata Bhoi, deputy commissioner of police.

Culling starts

People of Kerang village in Khurdah on Wednesday allowed the administration to carry out culling after the latter assured them of providing compensation. Reports said five teams were engaged in culling in presence of senior district officials, local police and the villagers.