Gangtok: In the case pertaining to the vandalism at Tashiling Secretariat on February 15, Sikkim Police has arrested two individuals in the case on February 23.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Sikkim Police DIG Range Bhim Kumar Tamang and SP (East) Siva Prasad Yellasiri shared, “Accused Joseph Rai, 22, and Abel Rai, 23, are siblings and resident of Kshyam, Munsong in North Bengal. They were based in Sikkim since 2019, meandering across the state, living in abandoned buildings and jungles. They are school dropouts studying somewhere in Kalimpong.”
Narrating the background of the two accused, the SP added, “They are from a broken family working in plantation in Munsong. They were involved in other crimes – November 2021 theft at Sheda Monastery in Chanmari and another theft at a restaurant in Nam Nang on January 9, 2022. Both the cases from Gangtok involving the two have been solved now.”
The Sikkim Police, narrating the crime at the Secretariat, stated, “We collected CCTV footage and circulated amongst all beats of Sikkim Police. Footage and photographs were shown. 10 cctv cameras were involved in recording them on the night of crime. Around 2:30 am, they were seen going towards Nam Nang. The information was shared on February 17, with a reward of Rs 3 lakh. We have received 70 calls and one call named the accused from Kalimpong. Their Facebook gave us clear photographs.”
On identifying the accused, Sikkim Police shared, “They were involved in crimes in Kalimpong and were arrested and released around 6 months ago. Kalimpong Police helped us in identifying the individuals and their address but that too was an abandoned house. We tracked their friends and we brought him to Sadar Police Station in Gangtok. We identified a phone number of the accused and tracked the location at Singtam. But were unable to find them. The phone was switched back on 11:30 am on Wednesday. They were caught from the banks of the river.”
On the reward to the informant as announced by Sikkim Police, they said, “This was the first such exercise and the public were very cooperative. The accused were identified by a couple of college students, who knew the individuals and their permanent address.”
On the motive behind the vandalism, the police claimed, “It is seen as attempt to commit theft; they make a living in that manner. We will produce them before the court now. Nothing was taken; no cash, no documents. We have been reviewing security from time to time. There is an inquiry on the lapse made. We have found that they were after money rather than having an idea which department they were raiding, largely taking the whole building as a bank.”
Sikkim Police will be producing the accused before the court soon, after ascertaining their finger prints from the crime spot. The accused have been charged with IPC 457 Lurking house-trespass or house-breaking by night in order to commit offence punishable with imprisonment, IPC 427 Mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees or onwards, IPC 380 Theft in dwelling house, IPC 511 Punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment, and IPC 34 Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention.