GUWAHATI, Oct 29 ? Disillusioned with the progress of the police investigation into the abduction of businessman Pratul Deb, his United Kingdom (UK)- based family now wants the CBI to take up the case. The eldest daughter of the family, Sipra Deb, visiting India for the second time in search of her father, has urged Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil to intervene in the matter.
Sipra, who is scheduled to meet Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in Delhi, will ask him to hand over the case to the CBI. Though she has not directly criticised the Assam Police for its sloppy work, this move is a clear-enough indication of the family?s disillusionment.
Pratul Deb (67) was kidnapped on March 17 this year from Bhairabi in the Barak Valley while on a business trip. Based in the United Kingdom but retaining his Indian citizenship, he was dabbling in the bamboo business at the time of his abduction. In 2001, he had contested the Assam Legislative Assembly elections as a BJP candidate.
?I have requested a thorough investigation into the matter. I have asked for CBI investigation,? Sipra said during a press conference here today just ahead of her meeting with the State DGP. She said that she would ask the Chief Minister to hand over the case to the Central investigative agency.
Asking for all help to free her father, Sipra said: ?Do not forget your moral duty. Do not forget to help. Each and every one of you will understand the pain I am going through. Don?t let me go back disappointed,? she pleaded. She said that her family back home are going through terrible times despite doing everything possible to free Deb.
?We have followed all the advice and did everything we could,? she said about the effort to free her father. For the last seven months, the family is totally in the dark about the whereabouts or the condition of Deb. This, despite paying his kidnappers Rs 10 lakh as ransom. The police have been clueless in this case. On whether she had any complaints against the performance of the local police, Sipra evaded a direct reply. ?The answer is in my face.?
?The question is where has he disappeared,? said Sipra, adding that all that the family want, is to get Deb back. ?If he is freed I will take him back home for good. He will no more be a menace to you,? she said in her message to her father?s kidnappers. ?If my father is dead then I would want his body recovered. It is my mother?s right to know that he is dead. And if it is fact that my father is no more, the people behind it should be brought to justice,? an emotional Sipra said. Accompanying Sipra to India this time are two South Yorkshire policemen.
Asked by newspersons whether there was any political motive behind Deb?s disappearance, Sipra did not give a definite reply. ?If you stand in elections in Assam does it mean you have to pay for it?? she asked.
Pratul Deb emigrated from the Cachar district in the Barak Valley to Ethiopia in 1967. He travelled through Africa before settling in the UK in 1985. His three daughters were born in the African continent. The eldest, Sipra, is a research scientist at Sheffield. The next daughter, Deepa is an advocate while the youngest, Pratima, is a doctor. The two younger sisters stay in London along with Deb?s wife Shibani (56).
?The last time I met him was at Pratima?s wedding in London on February 29,? recalled a tearful Sipra. Five days after the wedding, Deb left for India never to return. ?I have so many things to say to him,? she said. ?We are in a state of limbo. It is worse than death,? she said about the state of her family. ?How much longer do we have to wait?? she asked while appealing for information about her father. Sipra can be contacted on phone number 98189 69083 or on e-mail siprauk@yahoo.co.uk.