Odisha police clueless about Guwahati kingpin

BHUBANESWAR: The mastermind, Amar Jyoti Kalita, of the group that publicly molested and stripped a girl in the capital city of Assam last Monday who was suspected to be here or in some parts of the State yet to be traced out. The Assam police after tracking the phone call of the main accused informed the Odisha police three days back, but the Odisha police are clueless to trace Kalita’s whereabouts.

Following the statement of Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday about Kalita’s presence in Bhubaneswar and efforts are on to catch him, the Odisha police along with Railway police have conducted search operations in several areas of the city and railway stations. The police personnel are showing the photo of Kalita to train passengers and locals. It may be noted that the Assam police have announced Rs 1 lakh cash award for giving information on the whereabouts of the mastermind.

According to the police officials, a phone call from an Odisha location had come to Kalita’s Guwahati-based advocate. The police later found that public booth located at the railway station platform number-4 here from where someone using Kalita’s phone had called up, a senior official said. After tracking the phone call, the Assam police consulted with the Commissionerate Police and informed about the matter. Following the request of the Assam police, the Commissionerate Police had started raids in different areas to trace out the culprit on Sunday, but the police could not find the main accused.

When contacted, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Bhubaneswar) Nitinjeet Singh said that they were informed by the Assam police four days back. They conducted raids at different places in the city, but could not find him, he added. “After investigation, we have sent the report to the Assam police,” DCP added.

According to RPF Inspector Barun Kumar Behera, hardly one train comes from Assam to Bhubaneswar daily and our team has kept close watch on any train comes from Assam. Police in uniform and without uniform are deployed in the platforms here to trace out the kingpin, he added.

To arrest the culprits of the girl molestation case, the Assam police formed an investigation team. Though the Assam police has suspected about Kalita’s presence in the city, any investigation team from Assam police has not come to Odisha till now, said DCP Singh.