Bhubaneswar Police Uncover Elaborate Snatching Racket Involving Married Couple
In a significant breakthrough, the Bhubaneswar city police have apprehended three individuals, including a husband and wife duo, for their alleged participation in a series of calculated snatching incidents across the city. The arrests were made on Tuesday following an intensive investigation that revealed an unusual strategy designed to outsmart law enforcement and avoid suspicion.
Deceptive Tactics Employed by Accused Couple
According to police authorities, the primary accused, Rakesh Rout (35), orchestrated a clever scheme by utilizing his wife, Swetalina Behera (27), as a protective shield. Commissioner of Police S Dev Datta Singh detailed that Rout would drop Behera at a distance from the targeted location before scouting for potential victims. After executing the snatching, he would swiftly return to collect her, riding away casually with her as a pillion passenger to seamlessly blend into traffic and confuse CCTV tracking systems.
The couple's primary objective was to create substantial investigative obstacles, ensuring that Rout remained unidentified in surveillance footage. Behera actively supported her husband's criminal activities by assisting in the disposal of stolen jewellery and even mortgaging the items in banks to secure loans, as confirmed by the police commissioner.
Extensive Criminal History and Additional Arrest
Police investigations have uncovered the couple's involvement in a total of ten snatching cases, including seven in Chandrasekharpur, two in Nayapalli, and one in Infocity, occurring between November 2025 and March 2026. In addition to the couple, authorities arrested Golekh Chandra Sathua (65), identified as a receiver linked to their operations.
Rout's criminal background dates back to 2010, with a history of thefts continuing until 2015. He briefly reformed, opening a paan shop and marrying Behera in 2016, and later worked as a driver. However, he returned to criminal activities in late 2025, this time with his wife actively participating in the schemes.
Investigation Breakthrough and Recovery of Stolen Items
The police unmasked the couple while probing the snatching of a gold chain from an elderly woman outside a jewellery store in the Niladri Vihar area on December 24, 2025. Initial CCTV footage baffled investigators as Rout appeared to vanish, but hours of meticulous review exposed his deceptive methodology.
Commissioner Singh stated, "After arresting the couple in this case, we discovered their involvement in several other offences in different parts of the city over the last three to four months. Their arrest is anticipated to significantly curb snatching incidents in Chandrasekharpur and its nearby areas."
Police officials have successfully recovered eight stolen gold chains from the accused, with four of these items having been mortgaged in a nationalised bank. Genuine claimants have been identified, and their jewellery has been returned, marking a positive outcome in the investigation.
