CRIME IN COOCHBEHAR

Policemen examine a ransacked house at Dawaguri in Cooch Behar on Friday.

Robbers' heydays in Cooch Behar

COOCH BEHAR, Feb. 27: Two daring robberies held last night at Dawaguri area under Kotowali police station in Cooch Behar. Including these two, five such crimes have been committed in the last four days span. No one was arrested in connection with the incidents so far.

An armed gang of miscreants broke open into the house of Tarafdars at Kaler-par area of Dawaguri at deep of the night. They tied the owner of the house, Mr Bibhuti Ranjan Tarafdar and his son Apurba and looted away all the valuables including ornaments and cash worth Rs 2-lakh. In the same night a similar incident occurred at the house of Majumders at Baishyapara of Dawaguri. Here too the armed miscreants escaped with booties.

Earlier, a gang armed with bombs and firearms looted gold ornaments worth Rs 12-lakh from a jewellery shop at Mathabhanga in Cooch Behar on Wednesday evening. On the previous night a gang of about nine miscreants looted gold ornaments, camera and other valuable things alongwith Rs 40,000 in cash from the house of Mr Biswajit Dey at Dodearpar near Sonari BSF camp. On Monday night a gang of burglars looted gold ornaments worth Rs 20-lakh from a jewellery showroom in Tufanganj. The police are yet to arrest any one in connection with the incidents.

Observing the modus operandi of the crimes committed last night it is suspected that a certain gang committed the crimes, the superintendent of police, Cooch Behar, Mr DP Singh, said. The gang is a new one and it did the crimes with local help, he believes. No one was able to identify any miscreant from the file pictures of hardcore criminals, the SP added.

Mr Singh said the police identified the gang that committed the crime at Mathabhanga. Three persons have been detained for interrogation. It is suspected that they came from Jalpaiguri and they fled along the bank of Mansai river.

The police took an initiative to hold meetings with gram panchayat pradhans of the vulnerable areas to keep people alert. They would be requested to revive or make new village resistance groups (popularly known as RG Party) to check crimes. As the area under Cooch Behar Kotowali police station is a vast one of about 600 square-kilometre it is hard for the police to do all things without active co-operation of villagers. The situation turned worse due to recent transfer of a number of sub-inspectors, the SP admitted.