The West Bengal government has requested the ministry of external affairs for the necessary clearance to send a three-member Criminal Investigation Department (CID) team to Bangladesh to take forward the investigation into the rape and loot in the Ranaghat convent.
After the centre recently communicated to the Mamata Banerjee government that the CBI will not take up the probe, the onus of solving the Ranaghat case lies on the CID. “In all probability, the culprits have all fled to Bangladesh according to information obtained by CID sleuths after grilling Salim and Gopal Sarkar. So CID investigators have to visit Bangladesh if they have to get hold of the culprits,” a home department official told HT.
A senior home department official said that the process of getting the clearance is quite lengthy, and therefore, the state government has requested the MEA to take up the matter on an urgent basis and get the necessary clearance for the CID team.
As per procedure, the MEA, after receiving the request from the state home department, would forward the same to Interpol with the required recommendation. After getting the MEA note, Interpol would take up the matter with the Bangladesh government and arrange for the necessary clearance for the CID team to go to that country.
State home department sources said during the course of interrogation Salim has expressed apprehensions that his family members who live in Bangladesh might face life-threats from the culprits who are now in Bangladesh.
{{/usCountry}}State home department sources said during the course of interrogation Salim has expressed apprehensions that his family members who live in Bangladesh might face life-threats from the culprits who are now in Bangladesh.
{{/usCountry}}The state home department has also requested MEA to coordinate with its counterpart in Dhaka to ensure the security of his family members.
State home department sources told HT that once the approvals are in place, the CID team might be leaded by the CID’s additional director general, Rajeev Kumar.
On March 14, a gang of eight criminal looted `12 lakh from the convent of Jesus and Mary in Ranaghat and raped a 71-year old missionary.