Odisha Crime Branch cell to monitor highway truck robberies

In the wake of recent spurt in truck robberies on highways in Odisha, senior police officers of the state today held talks with truck owners' association members.
The meeting on 'Safe Highways' took place in the wake of Odisha having witnessed at least 95 truck loot incidents last year and the figure having already neared 60 by this August, official sources said.
The highways passing through Dhenkanal, Jajpur and Cuttack districts are prime targets of the looters.
In some truck loot cases, the drivers and helpers have gone missing for long and in two such cases, the drivers had been found brutally murdered by the looters.

After a two-hour long brainstorming discussion participated by at least six range officers (DIG, IG) and ten SPs, it was decided that a special cell to deal with such menace shall be set up in crime branch police headquarters.
"The job of this special cell would be to monitor the investigation, submission of charge sheet, detection of looted materials and coordinating the trial process in the appropriate courts", said State DGP Sanjiv Marik.

He said looting of trucks on highways is a very sensitive matter and the proposed special cell would closely follow the case till its logical conclusion. Marik also disclosed that that the local police stations would be intimated to lodge the FIRs in this concern immediately without any delay.

Attending the seminar, the All Odisha Truckers' Association President P K Satpathy suggested that highway patrolling should be intensified further.
Satpathy also suggested for having a NH patrolling helpline number so that the driver or the staff of the lorry could immediately contact the police or truck owner in case of any emergency.