Search the Internet          Tips

Jhumpa's ex-bodyguard arrested
on gambling charges

On January 15, Anjan Das, a constable with Calcutta Police's Special Branch, was among those responsible for the personal security of Pulitzer Award winner Jhumpa Lahiri at her wedding.

A day later, he was arrested by his own colleagues along with five other constables and a senior typist on charges of gambling in the premises of the Special Branch's Lord Sinha Road headquarters.

Though Deputy Commissioner of Police (SB) Mritunjay Singh refused to comment on the arrests, police headquarter confirmed the news.

Talking to rediff.com, Deputy Commissioner (headquarters) Narayan Ghosh said, "The SB had indeed arrested six of its personnel on gambling charges on January 16."

Sources told rediff.com that those arrested also included Vinay Pal, a retired constable, and senior typist Sahdev Shee. The others, according to the sources, are Gopal Roy Chowdhury, Debasish Das and Ranjit Bhowmick.

Interestingly, Roy Chowdhury was only recently suspended on charges of misconduct and had not even completed his full term of suspension.

Two deputy commissioners who were instrumental in making the arrests also recovered a large sum of money from the recreation club where the six constables were caught gambling.

The arrested personnel have been booked under the Gambling Act and slapped suspension orders.

Speaking to rediff.com, a senior SB officer said that Das, before being appointed on Jhumpa's security detail, had also been assigned to film star Mithun Chakraborty in the past.

Another SB source said that Das was appointed as Jhumpa's security guard for only 24 hours before being posted at the headquarters on January 16.

Reacting sharply to the arrests, the Calcutta Police Association has accused senior officers of being vindictive towards their sub-ordinates.

A senior functionary warned that the CPA would be forced to launch a mass agitation if the suspension and arrest orders were not revoked immediately.

However, SB officials denied the CPA's charges adding that all accused had confessed before Mritunjay Singh.

"Why would we be vindictive? Gambling is a crime. We cannot tolerate the involvement of SB personnel in such illegal acts. If people responsible for enforcing the law start violating it, you can imagine the magnitude of the crime amongst ordinary citizens," said a senior SB officer.

The news of the arrests has come when Jhumpa is still in Calcutta. She is expected to leave for Goa on January 22 for her honeymoon.

COMPLETE COVERAGE
Jhumpa Lahiri's wedding

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report