A CBI team manages to dig out the truth while recovering two skeletons at Boncherra near Assam-Mizoram border.

North East News Agency

FINALLY the truth is unearthed. Assam businessman Pratul Dev was kidnapped and later brutally murdered. Mr. Dev was kidnapped on his way to Mizoram on March 14 last year. Since then there was confusion about the fate of the man. Some said he was dead, while some said he was alive. His family members even received calls asking for ransom.

A CBI team led by DIG Loknath Behera finally managed to dig out the truth while recovering two skeletons at Boncherra near Assam-Mizoram border. The skeletons are believed to be those of missing  businessman and his associate Sadhan Nath. Along with the CBI team, a magistrate, a doctor, CRPF personnel and a dozen of labourers were present at the spot while the skeletons were recovered.

It is yet to be ascertained whether political rivalry or personal enmity is the reason behind the gruesome killing. It is learnt that the four persons have confessed to their involvement in the kidnapping and the subsequent killing of Deb and Nath. As per the confessional statement reportedly made by those arrested persons, the bodies were chopped into pieces and then buried together in the remote and inaccessible border area. The four accused also accompanied the CBI team to guide it to the exact spot where the bodies were buried.

Though the skeletons were sent to Delhi for forensic tests, what has almost confirmed the skeletons being those of Deb and his aide, is the recovery of a pacemaker alongside. Deb had a pacemaker implant. The skeletons, in scattered condition at the time of discovery, were initially packed in gunny bags. The investigating team also came across two shirts and a pair of rubber slippers.

The CBI team Loknath Behera and other members of the team, reached Boncherra, along the rugged and mountainous Assam-Mizoram border and launched a massive drive to retrieve the bodies. They came across the skeletons, which were camouflaged under a huge boulder, alongside a falls. The spot is about 50 km from Hailakandi.

The abduction created a great deal of consternation in the State. It was handed over to the CBI after Debˇ¦s family members had moved the Union Home Ministry demanding an inquiry by the Central intelligence agency. The CBI team, camping in Hailakandi for the past several days, had left for the spot in the wee hours today, accompanied by four vehicles carrying CRPF personnel. Deb was also the brother-in-law and political rival of Assam minister Gautam Roy.

The breakthrough came last month when Arunachal Police had arrested two bamboo traders Khagen Changma and Mahendra Changma, who had, during interrogation, admitted that they had seen two skeletons at Boncherra.

It may be mentioned here that Pratul Deb, a bamboo trader, and his partner Sadhan Nath and their driver was abducted on their way to Mizoram. Deb, who was the brother-in-law of Assam Social Welfare Minister Gautam Roy, had incidentally fought on a BJP ticket from Katalichora against Roy. Pratul Deb's daughter Shipra Deb, who stays in London, later came to Assam and accused the minister of masterminding the abduction and murder of her father.

In the past four years since my father has had links with Assam, his life was made a living hell by Gautam Roy as a result of my father taking an interest in politics. When we look for motives as to my fatherˇ¦s disappearance we cannot ignore this line, yet no action or questions have ever been raised relating to this matterˇ¨, she said. ˇ§The Superintendent of Police, who was in charge of the case, was mysteriously transferred when the news reached that I was coming to India to pursue the case. Why was this? Why was he warned against giving me information?ˇ¨, she had asked.

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