Court nod to C.B.I. to reopen Tagore's Nobel medal theft case

Bolpur (W.B.), Sep 26 (PTI) A court here Friday gave
permission to the C.B.I. to restart investigations into the
theft of Rabindranath Tagore Nobel medallion from the Rabindra
museum here in 2004.

Additional chief judicial magistrate, Bolpur, H. Bhutia
allowed the agency to reopen the case which was declared
closed by the C.B.I. in September last year after failing to
make headway in the probe.

Central Bureau of Investigation investigation officer P.
S. Bose filed a petition before Bhutia on September 18,
stating the agency wished to resume investigation as it had
found a clue to the theft.

The court said Bose would have to submit a report before
it on the progress of the investigation on October.

The Nobel medallion and Tagore memorabilia were stolen
from the museum on March 25, 2004.

A new lead came before the C.B.I. after one of the
suspects in the case, Jiban Bagdi, was stabbed to death on
September 11 at Kirnahar in the district.

Bagdi, who had a long criminal record, was detained after
the Nobel theft and interrogated by investigating agencies and
later released.

The state Crime Investigation Department was asked to
probe the theft of Nobel medallion and 47 other memorabilia
soon after it was detected. Later, the C.B.I. was handed over
the investigation.

However, the C.B.I. could not make any headway after
three years of probe and closed the case on September 1.