The bungalows of Assam Oil Division (AOD) officials at the oil township of Digboi in Assam are very much susceptible to thieves what with anti-social activities on the rise in Digboi town. The thieves are causing sleepless nights to the police and the latter has not been able to “crack down on the anti-social elements in a big way”.
In the latest case of robbery, AOD official Jintu Gogoi’s house was burgled on Wednesday night in the Hospital Tilla area under Digboi Police Station and gold ornaments worth several lakhs of rupees, DSLR camera and other gadgets were stolen. Police later recovered the stolen items from the possession of one “seasoned thief” Rituraj Dutta. Rituraj was carrying the stolen items in a polythene bag and was walking down the streets in a “casual manner” when the police pounced on him.
Meanwhile, a case has been registered at Digboi Police Station (Case No – 272/18) and the arrested thief was prosecuted adequately U/S 380 IPC. Few months earlier, Rituraj had reportedly burgled the residence of a top AOD official Kishore Dutta in the nearby Santipara area. Rituraj was arrested in the said case and was released after he served his term in the jail.
Police are yet to arrest the thieves who broke into the house of Chitra Sonowal of AOD who also lives in the Santipara area in April this year and made away with a lot of valuable items. Anti-social elements had also tied up an AOD official to his sofa in his own bungalow in the Santipara area and had attacked him with sharp weapons early this year. Of course, they did not commit any robbery in his house.
With police stepping up vigil in the Santipara area, the thieves have moved to the areas which are full of thick foliages and hilly terrains, so that they carry on with their crimes merrily. Reliable sources told Northeast Now that unemployed youths and drug addicts start indulging in anti-social activities. “They have a network of people working for them – domestic help, gardeners, rickshaw pullers, daily wage earners and gardeners – who provide them all kinds of information before they get on with their job of “looting” a house.