Kutty: Spilling the beans

Siliguri, Nov. 19: Quite a few skeletons are tumbling out after the arrest of 23-year-old “contract” killer Kutty alias Surojit Prasun Dey from his hideout in the Malbazaar area of Jalpaiguri.

Siliguri police have stumbled upon an organised crime network allegedly operated by a prominent real estate broker with strong “political” links.

The details that Dey coughed up — a respectable local ganglord, a girl who ran a beauty parlour and a contract killer who carried out supari murders — could well be the ingredients of Bollywood potboiler.

With Dey spilling the beans on the alleged kingpins, Gora Singh and son Vinay, the police have unearthed a “web” of criminal activity, including gun-running, extortion, abduction, prostitution, smuggling and drug peddling.

The cartel had spread its tentacles to neighbouring Nepal, Bihar, Sikkim and the Darjeeling hills, according to sources.

Siliguri additional superintendent of police Rajeev Mishra told The Telegraph: “Kutty’s arrest has opened a Pandora’s box. We stumbled upon the organised crime cartel run by a very respectable man and his young son. Kutty said the entire operation of the gang was controlled by Singh and his son. It was a tussle for ‘turf’ supremacy that blew the lid off the racket.”

Mishra said: “Kutty, arrested earlier by the Siliguri police for attempting to murder Hakimpara businessman Sameer Bhattacharya, had escaped from the Siliguri subdivisional magistrate’s court compound in September.”

“The gang used to operate from the Angela beauty parlour owned by one Usha on Sevoke Road. She was used as an important link by the gang. The beauty parlour was also the centre from which the gang ran its prostitution racket. The place was used by Singh and his six associates to chalk out their strategies. The police today raided the beauty parlour but could not find the girl. We also raided Singh’s Pradhannagar residence but both he and his son were missing. The man (Singh) owns a lot of property in the town and has criminal links in Bihar, Nepal and Sikkim.” Mishra said.

“Kutty is a shrewd and ambitious person. The main accused in the murder of one Karna Bahadur, a Nepalese national on October 30, Kutty was fed up of playing second fiddle to Singh. Bahadur, 20, and Tilak Prasad Bhattarai, 22, another Nepali, were members of Singh’s network. Realising that Kutty could mean trouble later, Singh tried to eliminate him. The father-son duo carried out their criminal activities while maintaining a respectable front in society,” Mishra said.

The sources said Singh wielded tremendous clout in Pradhannagar and its surrounding areas and is allegedly close to certain members of a political party. Though his criminal activities are known to residents of the area, few dare to raise a voice against him, they said.

“Gora Singh is also known as Gora Palwan by local residents of Pradhannagar. Though, Singh is not an active member of any political party, he has close links with influential politicians. We wonder why the authorities never raised a fingeragainst him or his boys,” said a local political leader.