Siliguri is witnessing an alarming rise in thefts, robberies and snatchings, with police identifying interstate criminal gangs as the main culprits. Taking advantage of the region’s strategic ‘Chicken Neck’ corridor – a narrow passage connecting northeast India to the rest of the country, bordered by two international borders and other Indian states – these gangs are sneaking into the city, committing crimes and disappearing before being caught.
Senior police officials say this geographical vulnerability is complicating investigations for the Siliguri Metropolitan Police.
In response, the police have stepped up surveillance and preventive measures in key areas of the city. “We are increasing surveillance at vulnerable spots and increasing our focus on both detection and prevention,” said Siliguri Police Commissioner C Sudhakar.
The commissioner confirmed that several suspects have been arrested in recent weeks in cases of ATM loot, jewellery shop robbery and snatching. “The gangs are targeting transit-friendly areas, which offer a chance to quickly escape by crossing state borders,” he said.
Three people, including a woman, were arrested recently from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh in connection with the daylight robbery at a jewellery shop in Siliguri on June 22, which is a major breakthrough. The trio were brought to the city on transit remand and produced before a Siliguri court today, with police seeking their custody for further interrogation.
A part of the stolen jewellery has been recovered, taking the total number of arrests in the case to six. In another development, the Bhaktinagar police on Monday arrested a man named Zakir Hussain for illegally manufacturing Indian Army uniforms with new, officially approved patterns.
Based on Army intelligence, the police raided his tailoring shop and recovered enough uniform cloth to make several full dresses. Hussain was produced in court the same day. Crimes are on the rise despite the crackdown. Hours after Jharkhand native Dhiraj Kumar was arrested from Mallaguri on Sunday night, four more miscreants were arrested from Pradhan Nagar.
An automatic pistol and a live magazine were recovered from Kumar. The police suspect that he was planning to carry out criminal acts in the city. “We are actively investigating the matter and looking for his accomplices,” said Pradhan Nagar police station in-charge B D Sarkar.
Five more men from Uttar Pradesh were arrested from Matigara area late Sunday night. A luxury car and suspicious items were seized. The police believe that they had come to Siliguri with the intention of committing crimes. Meanwhile, in a shocking incident on Monday morning, three unidentified assailants barged into a house in Shantinagar and brutally attacked an older people woman and fled after looting her jewellery.
When the victim screamed for help, the attackers gagged her mouth. No arrest has been made in the case yet. Despite persistent efforts by law enforcement, residents are living in fear as complaints are pouring in every day, highlighting the urgent need for coordinated inter-state action and intelligence sharing.
