Lakhimpur: CBI probe into Junmoni Rabha's death case may open a Pandora's box in fake gold trade

North Lakhimpur, June 19: The seemingly never ending tale of infamous fake gold and counterfeiting trade of Lakhimpur’s Bangalmara suddenly occupied headlines following the mysterious death of police officer SI Junmoni Rabha on May 15 in Jakhalabandha.

Prior to her death in the road mishap, SI Rabha was reserved closed by then Nagaon SP Leena Doley in connection with a complaint lodged by one Amina Khatun of Bangalmara against her at North Lakhimpur Police Station.

In the complaint, Junmoni Rabha was accused of taking Rs 6 lakhs from Amina Khatun for the release of her son Asgar Ali on May 6. Asgar, an alleged trader of fake gold and counterfeiting was picked up by a team of Nagaon Police led by SI Rabha on May 6 after she received a tip-off from her informer in Bangalmora.

It was alleged that Lakhimpur Police tried to protect the fake gold traders, an old accusation though, for which they fast tracked proceedings against SI Junmoni Rabha. Following the events leading to the death of SI Rabha, Hasina Begum, an informant of the late police officer, said that Nagaon Police had raided the house of Asgar and detained him for his involvement in the fake gold trade as informed by her. She further alleged that Lakhimpur Adl. S.P. Runa Neog asked her to stay away from her activities against the fake gold traders of Bangalmara and offered her Rs 60,000 per month to shut her mouth.

A recorded telephonic conversation between Hasina Begum and Additional S.P Runa Neog which went viral in the social media, Neog was heard telling Hasina to refrain from complaining against the fake gold traders arrested in an earlier case by Narayanpur Police Station in Lakhimpur.

The conversation further established the police-fake gold traders’ nexus in Lakhimpur resulting in the transfer of Adl. S.P. Runa Neog and S.P. Bedanta Madhab Rajkhowa.

Moreover, the arrests and surrender of dozens of fake gold and counterfeiting traders in Lakhimpur after the arrival of new SP Anand Mishra also confirmed the long standing public apprehension of the conman being roaming freely and openly in the greater Bangalmora area of Laluk and Bihpuria Police Station and, Silanibari, Dolohat, Nowboicha, Bangalmara and Harmutty Police Outposts with full knowledge of the law enforcement agencies.

The trader’s modus operandi is to lure potential buyers through phone calls by middlemen and to bring them to thugs to hand over the gold- mostly in the form of a boat or a statue – in exchange of money worth several lakhs of rupees. When a buyer arrives, they used to take the money and give gold-coated statues or boats or simply scare them away without any gold as said in the deal.

In case of counterfeit currencies the customers are demonstrated note printing machines with RBI insignia which are actually very ordinary handmade toy boxes, where some original notes are kept inside. The demonstration convinces the customers and they pay huge amounts of cash to double them with the fake ones. The sellers then take the cash and vanish from the spot, leaving the buyers stranded in an unknown locality. The duped customers cannot even go to police since they know it is an illegal activity, or on some occasions, even if they do so, they are allegedly framed by police.

In the last one and half decade names like Abu Sahid alias Lambu, who is also the treasurer of District BJP’s minority cell, Abdul Razzak, Nabiul, Zakir are familiar in the greater Bangalmora area under several police outposts running these illicit activities.

However, until the ultimatum to surrender was set by S.P. Anand Mishra, all of them roamed free. Even after so many recent developments, the initial operation by Lakhimpur Police against the fake gold-traders seems to lose the momentum. From May 18 to May 27, Lakhimpur Police apprehended 62 persons in operations against this elusive case. On June 11, Lakhimpur Police arrested six persons, including three from Nepal in Dalgaon, Darrang district on the same case. Since then there are no further reports of any arrests in the district. On June 17, the recovery of counterfeit notes of Rs 24 lakhs in Jorabat from one Ziabur Rahman of Laluk confirms the continuous proliferation of these activities from Lakhimpur.

The allegation by SI Junmoni’s mother that police actually murdered her daughter to conceal their complicity in dealing the fake gold trade of Lakhimpur additionally draws attention. The raid by Nagaon police in SI Junmoni’s official residence by the time she was dead also raises questions among the public here who has been weary of this menace in the last three decades and the failure by the police to eradicate it completely. Now the handing over the investigation to the CBI of SI Junmoni Rabha’s death brings some new hopes. It will be crucial to see how the central agency can step in solving the old and infamous trade of Bangalmara in Lakhimpur within a very small radius of only few square kilometres consisting of villages Pandhowa, Borsola, Mohghuli, Tinithegiya, Sonapur, Jubanagar etc., under Bangalmora Police Outpost from where buyers from across the country have been lured and duped. This can open a Pandora’s Box in this long sustaining crime.