Bhubaneswar, Feb 10: Frequent incidents of robbery, snatching and cybercrimes across the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar have emerged as a concern for the residents.

Sources said that fraudsters have duped more than 1.4 crore in the twin cities in several cases of cyber crimes in the twin cities in January including Rs 52 lakh from victims in Bhubaneswar only.

The handful cyber police stations in the state including the state cyber cell have failed miserably to detect the cases while police have been able to recover Rs 7.19 lakh in those cases.

On the other hand, incidents of loot, burglary, dacoity, highway ransoming and snatching cases have increased significantly in last few months. A series of snatching incidents in broad day light have left citizens panic-stricken.

The ease of escape of the miscreants after committing snatching has also raised question mark on the action and presence of police in the twin cities.

Recently a college girl and an engineering student became the victims of snatchers near Jaydev Vihar .In another incident, a haviladar was robbed of Rs 1 lakh after he was assaulted with sharp-edged weapon.

Frequent snatching incidents have forced many residents not to venture out of their homes after evening hours. Senior citizens have also become the soft target of snatchers. The incident in which a 67-year-old woman was attacked in Bhubaneswar in the wee hours during snatching has also raised question on the safety of senior citizens. Similarly an engineer was also attacked with sword during a bid to snatch his gold chain.