Bhubaneswar, July 16: Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi today issued a statement that the key accused in the Guwahati molestation case was in Bhubaneswar. However, sources in the Odisha police said there was no concrete evidence to back the claim.
Odisha director general of police Prakash Mishra sought to make it clear that the state had not received any communication from the Assam police with regard to the case. “They have not sent any team to follow up on their information that Amarjyoti Kalita is hiding in Bhubaneswar,” Mishra said.
The statement of the top cop assumed significance in the context of what Gogoi told mediapersons in Guwahati today. Assam chief minister said tracking of Amarjyoti Kalita’s mobile phone suggested his presence in Bhubaneswar.
“Our police is in touch with Odisha police and we hope to trace him soon,” he added.
However, a senior police officer at the state police headquarters here said there was every possibility that Kalita was still in Assam or in a northeastern state.
Deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Bhubaneswar Nitinjeet Singh said the Assam police had not even provided them the phone numbers, which they claimed to have been traced to Bhubaneswar.
“If they think Kalita is hiding here, let their police team come and trace him out. We will provide them all possible assistance,” said Singh.
The Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel, armed with a photograph of the main accused, were inquiring people at the Bhubaneswar railway station.
Inspector in charge of RPF, Bhubaneswar, Varun Behera said they were making the inquiries on their own, without any formal requests either from the Odisha police or their Assam counterparts.
Yesterday, Assam director general of police Jayant Narayan Choudhury had told a local news channel that Kalita’s lawyer in Guwahati had received a call from him from Bhubaneswar three days ago. The call was traced to a public telephone booth near the platform No. 4 of the local railway station.
The DCP, Bhubaneswar, said they conducted extensive searches after being alerted by the Assam police about the phone call.
