People's Democracy

Viswa Bharati Theft Case: CBI Remains Clueless

WHEN the CBI started to participate in the Viswa Bharati theft case, where memorabilia of great importance, including poet Tagore’s Nobel medallion went missing, it commenced the task by scoffing at the efforts of the state police including the CID.  More than a week has since passed by. The CBI has nothing to show by way of even a clue, beyond allowing a police dog to romp freely across the campus and get to identify finally several empty bottles of alcoholic beverages in a bush near the Uttarayan complex.  The CID, on the other hand, has identified several sets of fingerprints and has organised the arrest of a former employee of the Viswa Bharati for his alleged involvement in the crime.

Surprisingly, hours before Atal Behari Vajpayee paid a very abbreviated visit to Viswa Bharati and allegedly, according to BJP leader Tapan Sikdar, denigrated the Bengal LF government’s “slow progress” over the investigation of the crime, the CBI managed to “find” a bundle that “had contained”, according to the CBI sources, “a few idols that had disappeared along with other Tagore memorabilia.”  We note that the items were not part of the list of artefacts that the Viswa Bharati authorities had earlier cited as having been stolen. (INN)