Our Correspondent
DIGBOI: The AOD residences and bungalows at around a km-long radius from Digboi Refinery have reportedly been a soft target of miscreants and organized criminals perpetrating various anti-social activities.
Theft occurred at an official AOD residence on Wednesday morning at the Hospital Tilla area under Digboi Police Station. Items worth several lakhs, including gold ornaments, DSLR camera and other gadgets were recovered from the possession of thief Rituraj Dutta.
According to sources, Rituraj Dutta (26), son of Dilip Dutta, shifted to Golai No 1 from AOD residential area and broke into the residence of an AOD official Jintu Gogoi and stole some gadgets and gold ornaments. However, acting swiftly the local police managed to catch hold of the thief while he was walking casually in the morning in a nearby sector with the stolen items in a bag which was recognized by Gogoi who was on the lookout for the thief.
A couple of months ago, the same notorious thief had looted the residence of a well-placed AOD official, Kishore Dutta in the nearby Santipara area. He was booked under law and subsequently released on completion of prosecution term. Another AOD residence (3180) occupied by Chitra Sonowal in the Santipara area was also looted by unidentified miscreants in the month of April. The unidentified miscreants had tied up an AOD officer to a sofa in his bungalow in the Santipara area and assaulted him with lethal weapons. With the steep rise in the crime graph in the historic oil town under Digboi police station, it remains to be seen how the police and AOD security agencies put a check on these crimes. Meanwhile, a case has been registered at Digboi Police Station at 272/18 and the arrested thief was prosecuted adequately u/s 380 IPC.