Durgapur, Dec. 8: Chain reaction (Oxford Advance Learner's Dictionary): A series of events, each of which causes the next.

An equivalent played out in Durgapur yesterday with the bags of several professionals landing up on the tables of one another, confounding their owners and law enforcement alike as no motive could be established.

A commercial tax officer, a lawyer, a maths teacher, a civic councillor and an NIT professor, whose offices are located within a 5km radius, lost their bags within a span of three hours. While three bags were traced, two are missing.

The sales tax officer's bag was found on the lawyer's table. The lawyer's bag was found on the maths teacher's table. The councillor's bag was found on the table of the NIT professor. The maths teacher and the NIT professor lodged police complaints as their bags could not be found.

Around 11.30am yesterday, sales tax officer Pramod Kumar received a phone call from lawyer Kala Chand Gorai of Durgapur court informing him that his bag was lying on Gorai's table at the Bar Association office.

Kumar had kept his black leather bag containing official documents and a tiffin box in the almirah for employees of the sales tax office.

"I was surprised and rushed to the almirah. My bag was not there. I went to the court, 1km away, and picked up my bag from the lawyer. He told me he found the bag on his table in place of his bag. He got my mobile number from my visiting card, which was in the bag," Kumar said.

Gorai said he had left his bag on the Bar Association table and gone to the courtroom but on returning, could not find it there. "Instead, there was a black leather bag. I opened it and found some papers and Kumar's visiting card."

Around 1.30pm, Gorai got a phone call from Amitabha Samanta, a maths teacher at Durgapur Government College, 5km from the court. Samanta told Gorai that his bag was lying on Samanta's table in the common room of the college.

"I rushed to the college and took the bag from the teacher. I was surprised to know that the teacher's bag was missing," Gorai said.

Samanta, whose bag is yet to be traced, has lodged a police complaint.

"I had kept my bag on the table of our common room and gone to take a class. But it was missing when I returned. Instead, there was a similar black bag. I opened it and found some legal documents and visiting cards mentioning Gorai's name," the maths teacher said.

Around 2.30pm, Trinamul councillor Sushil Chatterjee got a call from NIT chemistry professor Sujit Shankar Pandey informing him that his bag was lying on Pandey's table. The Durgapur Municipal Corporation and the NIT are separated by 4km.

"I went to the NIT and collected my bag. A pen drive and a cheque book were missing," Chatterjee said.

Pandey could not find his bag and lodged a police complaint. "I had kept some money and official documents in my bag. I had left the bag in my office and gone to take a class. When I returned, I found Chatterjee's bag on my table," Pandey said.

Police said they were puzzled. "We are scanning CCTV footage," said Amitabha Maity, the additional deputy commissioner of police (east).