Murderer changes nationality, hides in jail

KOLKATA: He committed a murder in the northern suburbs of the city, then forged his identity to become a ‘Bangladeshi’ and got into a brawl in a notorious red-light area of the city.
He was arrested and sent to Presidency jail, where he quietly waited deportation and a safe getaway when luck finally ran out on Tuesday.
A month-and-a-half ago, a man was murdered at a hooch den in Nimta in the North 24-Parganas.Irate locals demanded the arrest of the accused, one Raja Dutta, who they allegedly had committed the murder.
The district superintendent of police assured the mob that he would have Dutta behind bars soon. However, Dutta gave the police the slip and vanished from the area.
On Monday, a small-time crook, Gedo, was picked up from Nimta. During interrogation, Gedo revealed that he knew Dutta well and that the latter had been arrested by Burtolla police after a brawl.
“However, there was no record on Raja Dutta at the Burtolla police station. On further interrogation, Gedo revealed that Dutta was lodged in Presidency Jail and was being regularly visited by relatives.
Strangely, Dutta’s name did not figure in the jail records as well,� said Narayan Ghosh, DIG (HQ).
Finally, one officer brought out Dutta’s file photograph and showed it to officials at Presidency Jail. Immediately the jail officials identified the photograph as that of Nagen De, a resident of Rajshahi in Bangladesh — arrested from Burtolla on March 15.
“Dutta who gave a false name and address was arrested under section 14 of the Foreigners’ Act for not possessing valid documents or a passport. The arrest was made a few days after the murder in Nimta,� said Ghosh.
The case cracked notwithstanding, the police are now in a fix. They cannot get Dutta (or De) out of jail, nor can they allow him to get deported.
The state police have submitted a prayer to the Bankshall Court to transfer the case to Barrackpore. “We will have to wait till the Burtolla case is over before we can start murder proceedings against him,� Ghosh said.