Crime graph rising in Cachar, police in slumber

Special Correspondent

Silchar, Dec 29: It has become a cause of concern for citizens in general that despite Cachar being a comparatively peaceful zone, the crime-graph has of late shows rising trend. There is enough reason to be alarmed. According to the recent records of crimes, TET teacher Pijush Kumar Das went missing on December 13 after proceeding from his residence at Saratpally of this town to report for his school Savirtri Sundari Pathshala, 20 km away. After dusk when he did not returned home and subsequent desperate search by family members on the day, his elder brother Sudip Kumar Das filed FIR with the nearest Rangirkhari police out post. The police remained clueless about his missing.

 It was on December 27 that the mutilated dead body of Pijush Kumar Das was recovered from the jungle of Maruacherra, 10 km away from his school. According to the statement of auto driver who used to drive him to school from Udharbond, Pijush Kumar Das was seen by him on the fateful day moving towards Balacherra alone. He however did not suspect anything. He might have fallen into a trap for reasons not yet confirmed and was seen moving up towards Maruacherra. The police recovered his dead body after receiving information from some person. Close to his mutilated body was recovered another dead body, suspected to be of a tribal, according to police.

 The headmistress of Savirtri Sundari Pathshala went on record to say that on December 13, Pijush Kumar Das did not attend the school. It is alleged that neither the Rangirkhari police nor that of Borkhola took up the investigation seriously. Samar Das, an employee of Gautom Construction, also a resident of Saratpally, went missing on August 20. But, till date there is no clue about him. His wife Jayshree Das filed FIR with Rangirkhari police out post. She is still in dark about the fate of the investigation and the police maintains intriguing silence.

 Jayshree Das to get specific information approached the in-charge of the police out post, B K Chetri, who reportedly told her that her husband has gone underground and will make appearance at the appropriate time. Even after 4 months of his missing, police is groping in the dark. On April 10 last, mother, Shila Deb Kanungo, and her son, Soumitra Deb Kanungo, were murdered in a pre planned manner in their house at Link Road that too under Rangirkhari police out post. The police did detain and interrogate some persons and that was all in the me of investigation.

 The culprits involved in this mind-boggling crime have gone scot free. Even after 8 months, police is perhaps waiting for another crime to happen instead of rounding up the crimils to establish its responsibility and also the commitment to b them. Soumitra Deb Kanungo was well connected with the cultural activities of this town. His relatives are worried. It is relevant to recall that about 3 years back, it was in 1st Link Road that husband and wife were found murdered in their house. The neighbours upset by the bad smell coming out of their house from the decomposition of bodies informed the police. It was only after three days that the police of Rangirkhari out post came and entered inside after breaking open the door. This twin murders too remained unresolved till date.

 It is also strange that in the midnight of April 23 a 9 mm pistol was stolen by miscreants from the highly secured PI Court of this town which was subsequently recovered by police from the premises of Shani Mandir at Sadarghat at a walking distance 4 days later. It was the daring dacoity at the temple which brought a mobile police party to the spot. But before the police party could reach the temple, Rs.2.5 lakh in cash was looted from the dotion box by the dacoits. None of these cases could be taken to their conclusive end. It seems the police has lost the will to investigate and leave the cases to their own fate.