Centre's probe honours for five Bengal, two Kol cops

Kolkata: Seven police officers, five from state police and two from Kolkata Police, have been awarded the “Union Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Investigation” for 2020. The awards will be given to 121 police personnel pan-India, including 21 women officers.

On the Bengal award list, inspector Shukla Sinha Ray of cyber crime cell of Kolkata Police and sub-inspector Barnali Sarkar, OC of Bankura Sadar PS, share honours with their colleagues’, inspectors Denis Anup Lakra (also a cyber crime investigator), Subir Karmakar and Bijay Kumar Yadav, and sub inspectors Supriya Bannerjee and Pradip Paul.

The West Bengal Police in a statement said, “These officers investigated heinous crimes such as murder, rape, dacoity and human trafficking very efficiently and quickly secured convictions. We, at West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police, would like to congratulate all officers who have made us proud.”

Ray and Lakra, both cyber crime investigators of Kolkata Police, had been involved with high-profile probes in busting fake call centres in Kolkata that duped several thousand US and UK nationals in the name of Microsoft. The fraudsters had impersonated themselves as Microsoft agents and cheated victims saying they needed to pay to repair their computers which have been hacked. Inspector Lakra had probed the case that had prompted London police cyber crime head, Jonathan Frost, to call up Kolkata Police commissioner Anuj Sharma to congratulate him personally.

Ray’s probe involved busting a cyber blackmail racket, involving two city youths.

Sarkar, the Bankura Sadar OC, had led investigations in a sexual assault of a minor, tracking down the accused and putting him on trial.

Dhupguri inspector-in-charge, Karmakar, headed probe into the 2018 gang-rape of a tribal woman. The probe was completed in 72 hours and a chargesheet filed. The case is now in the last leg of the trial stage.

An MHA statement said, “Among the personnel receiving these awards, 15 are from CBI, 10 each are from Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra Police, 8 are from Uttar Pradesh Police, 7 each are from Kerala and West Bengal Police. The remaining are from other States/UTs.”