Bhubaneswar: Two separate incidents of loot in a month at Bhubaneswar railway station here exposed the nexus between police and criminals. The chain of events was quite similar in both the cases where the cops were found trying to strike a deal on behalf of the looters by threatening the victims.
In the first incident, one Mahendra Kumar Pradhan of Sonepur became the target of the anti-socials at the platform after he reached here by train December 9. Pradhan has been preparing for competitive exams and also giving private tuitions in the City.
The miscreants snatched away his bag carrying Rs 30,000 that was given by his father for the purchase of a laptop. He followed the miscreant and later got him nabbed by GRP officials.
However, police started striking a deal with Pradhan by threatening him to book him for gambling and flesh trade. A scared Pradhan also agreed to go away with Rs 25,000.
One more person Tuesday brought similar allegations of police shielding the criminals and negotiating a deal with them at the Railway station.
The victim, Sunil Kumar Chakra returned from New Delhi, Tuesday, but was followed by some looters soon after he withdrew `16,000 from the ATM at the Railway station.
The miscreants snatched away the cash from Chakra when he was talking with an auto-rickshaw driver to go to Nayapalli. He later chased the miscreants but stopped by some unknown persons there identifying themselves as police.
However, he immediately called the police by holding the person who prevented him from following the miscreants.
However, one of the PCR van staffers asked Chakra to leave the place by taking Rs 10,000 which he refused to accept. The police were forced to take up his case after he revealed his ordeal before the media persons. Later, GRP personnel arrested two looters, Shahazad Khan and Sk Kalimullah, by registering a case (22/20) in this regard.