From 1.86L phone calls, CID zeroed it down to 8-10 & nabbed the accused

SOUMITRA NANDI |  MP | 7 Nov 2017, Kolkata: The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) left no stone unturned and did a commendable job in apprehending the accused in the case of rape and dacoity at a convent in Ranaghat, Nadia district, as all of them except one had escaped to Bangladesh along the Nadia border within a few hours of the crime. The intelligence of the sleuths and most importantly the tower dumping technology used by the state investigating agency finally led them to nab the accused.

During the course of investigation, the CID sleuths began by scanning records of as many as 1.86 lakh phone calls that were made through the mobile towers located in and around the spot and timing of the crime. Ultimately they zeroed in to around 8 to 10 calls whose tower locations were also found in the probable escape route within a few hours of the timing of the crime. 

"We were armed with the portrait parley of the accused that we had got by scanning the CCTV footage but the job was not easy considering the fact that the miscreants had decamped to their native country in Bangladesh within a few hours of the crime," an investigating officer said.

The rape of the septuagenarian nun had triggered nationwide outrage and the state government, just four days after the crime, had announced its decision to hand over the investigation to the CBI considering the sensitivity and seriousness of the case and the location not too far away from the Bangladesh border. However, the Centre turned down the plea to conduct CBI investigation.

"We accepted this as a challenge and have been able to corroborate evidences of all types that led to the conviction of all the six. Five of the six who are Bangladeshis are hardcore criminals. Trial is pending against them in a case of dacoity at a nursing home in Balurghat and at a residence in Kharagpur. They have also done offences outside the state in places like Ludhiana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi," a CID official added.