Kolkata, Aug 16 (IANS) The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the West Bengal Police has been entrusted with the task of investigating the theft of the Padma Shri award of internationally acclaimed (former) Indian swimmer, also an Arjuna Award winner, Bula Chowdhury.

Theft of their prestigious award, as well as some more of her awards, trophies, and medals, took place on Friday at Chowdhury’s ancestral residence, Hind-Motor in Hooghly district.

After preliminary investigation, the investigating officials think that the theft might be the handiwork of some local person or persons, who had kept a constant watch on the house for some time and understood when the right time to conduct the theft.

State police insiders said that already a couple of persons have been for the purpose of interrogation in the matter.

Although Choudhury, who was also a former CPI-M legislator from 2026 and 2011, currently stays in Kasba in South Kolkata, all her awards, trophies, and medals, which she earned during her swimming career, were displayed at her ancestral residence at Hind-Motor.

She used to come to her ancestral residence every week and inspect whether her awards, trophies, and medals were preserved and maintained properly. On Friday, it was noted that her Padma Shri award shield was missing from the place where it was displayed.

Later, it was discovered that some more of her awards, trophies, and medals were also stolen.

Chowdhury and her family members have claimed that the theft of the prestigious award could have been prevented had the local police shown some sincerity in ensuring the safety of the house, considering so many awards were preserved there.

“I earned those medals after a lot of hard work and struggle. Now most of them have been stolen. My question for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is, why could the police not ensure the prevention of that robbery?” Chowdhury said on Friday.

Milan Chowdhury, the brother of the champion swimmer who stays at that Hind-Motor residence, said that there were three robbery attempts at the residence earlier. “Each time, police complaints were registered, and a routine investigation was carried out. However, subsequent robbery attempts did not stop. Even for a brief period, a police picket was also put up there, only to be withdrawn after a certain period,” he said.

–IANS

src/pgh