B'deshi nationals on trip to India for medical care looted

Balurghat: Police arrested a toto-puller for allegedly looting two Bangladeshi nationals within 24 hours after the crime took place. Cops recovered the stolen money, mobile phones and passports from him. The accused, Rabi Das, (22) was produced before the Balurghat court on Thursday.

According to a police source, Mosammad Farhana (31) arrived in Balurghat with her ailing elder brother Sahajad Husain (52) for treatment from Bangladesh through the Hili border with valid documents on April 22, a day before the elections. They had to reach to board the Balurghat-Howrah train scheduled to depart from Balurghat station at 8.30 pm.

As there was no transport between Hili and Balurghat station due to the elections, the duo booked Das's toto to reach their destination. As the route was unknown to Farhana and Husain, the accused took them to a secluded place, which was about 2 km from the station and allegedly looted them with the help of another person. They allegedly thrashed ailing Husain when he opposed

them. As they shouted for help local residents rushed to the spot. A complaint was lodged with police in this regard.

Inspector in-charge of Balurghat police station Jayanta Dutta formed a team led by officers Krishna Bera and Debasish Acharjee and asked them to immediately arrest the culprits. Later, with the help of the CCTV footage and after interrogating some toto pullers the police identified Das.

After interrogating Das, cops detained a person from Hili. About Rs 82,000 in cash, passports and mobile-phones were recovered from him. Farhana said: "We came to India for my elder brother's treatment in Chennai."