Despite the assurance given by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that those responsible for the alleged rape of an elderly nun at a convent school in State Nadia district will be arrested wherever they are, the West Bengal Police has failed to apprehend any culprits.
Three days after the incident the police released those who were detained in connection with the incident in Nadia district and detained a few persons in the adjoining North 24 Parganas district.
What has come to a surprise is that the police already have detailed versions of eyewitnesses present during the crime and footage of the CCTV cameras which captured images of the culprits.
The State’s Criminal Investigation Department has also released the sketches of the accused.
“In this case the CCTV camera footage appears to be a disadvantage. While it has alerted the accused and any arrest made by the police has to bear resemblance to the people seen in the footage,” a senior police officer working with the intelligence wing of Nadia police told The Hindu .
According to the senior police officers of Nadia district along with those seen in the CCTV footage there can be others involved in the crime.
“It is strange that the police has not been able to arrest anyone so far because the incident has occurred in a small town. Though it is very difficult to attribute reasons to it, this reflects the police does not have the freedom to act on its own in the State,” Sandhi Mukherjee, a retired IPS officer said.
It is still not clear what was the motive of the crime, whether the crime was only a robbery attempt or any kind of ‘'revenge crime’.
The locals and a group of parents suggest that dacoits without any insider information could not have scaled a ten-feet wall and took the nuns across several rooms where cash was kept.
Only about a week ago the school authorities were threatened with dire consequences over a dispute involving school administration.
That the criminals may have taken help of the porous international border with Bangladesh, is also a possibility. Ms. Banerjee had said that searches are being conducted in the border areas. BSF sources told The Hindu that the State government has asked for help of sniffer dogs which they have provided along with increasing the vigil at the border.
Moreover, the school is located on the national highway and falls under jurisdiction of Gangnapur police station about ten kilometres far while the Ranaghat police station is only a stone throw distance from the school.
