Patna, July 17: A Government Railway Police (GRP) team is set to visit Silchar in Assam to search for clues to the murder of 25-year-old student Pritam Bhattacharjee.
Pritam’s body was recovered near a foot overbridge at Kataria railway station in Naugachia, around 250km east of Patna, on Sunday.
The GRP move assumes significance in the wake of the recovery of a young girl’s body from Naugachia on July 11, two days after Pritam went missing from the Naugachia railway station. “Prime facie, the girl, aged about 20-22 years and wearing jeans and a top, appears to be a native of the Northeast. However, her identity is yet to be ascertained,” inspector-general, railways, Vinay Kumar said.
Pritam, who was travelling to Delhi for a PhD enrolment exam, had told his parents that he had been forced to get down from the Awadh-Assam Express as he was being harassed by four youths, who snatched his bag containing important documents and laptop at Naugachia.
IG Kumar, who returned from Naugachia today, told The Telegraph that a police team would shortly visit Pritam’s hometown to find out whether he had any enemies there. “Passengers travelling in the compartment denied reports of any confrontation with Pritam, who was booked on berth no 36 in coach S-10,” the IG said.
Police officials associated with the investigation questioned about 10 passengers, mainly those who were seated adjacent to Pritam’s berth, to ascertain the description of the four youths, who, according to Pritam’s parents, started harassing their son soon after the train left New Jalpaiguri.
“Even travelling ticket examiner Bipin Kumar refuted reports of any confrontation in the compartment. One of the co-passengers told the police that Pritam was not travelling on his allocated berth. The berth was vacant till the train reached Katihar. This gives credence to the theory that he might have been travelling with someone or was in another berth,” an investigating officer said.
Sources said some members of the Moti Yadav gang, which operates in the Naugachia area, were under the scanner of the investigators. “Moti is at present lodged in Khagaria jail and has been involved in several murders in the area. He had killed his sister and brother in-law in full public view for which he was arrested,” an officer said.
