The Hindu : Conspiracy suspected in Vishwa Bharati theft

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 01, 2004

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Conspiracy suspected in Vishwa Bharati theft

By Our Special Correspondent

KOLKATA, MARCH 31. Even as a team of Central Bureau of Investigation officials reached Shantiniketan today to assist in the probe into the theft of the Nobel medallion awarded to Rabindranath Tagore and other memorabilia from the Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Museum in the Vishwa Bharati University campus last week, initial inquiries reveal the probable collusion of certain officials entrusted with security with those who committed the burglary.

Sources in the university told The Hindu over telephone that the theft could be the result of a "conspiracy hatched by a section of insiders to malign those in authority, including the Vice-Chancellor, Sujit Kumar Basu, who had only a few days ago received a report of an inquiry into alleged irregularities in granting university affiliation to a number of institutions over the years." About 40 such institutions had been granted affiliation by the Vishwa Bharati since the late 1970s and questions have subsequently been raised about the criteria applied in granting them recognition. The decision taken by Dr. Basu to look into the matter had apparently not gone down well with a section of officials responsible for granting the affiliations, the sources said.

The report of a committee set up by the university to inquire into the theft was tabled at a meeting of the Vishwa Bharati executive council today. The grant of university affiliation to a plethora of institutions was also discussed. Some officials who had been entrusted with the job of handling security at the museum have been charged with being responsible for the security lapse resulting in the burglary, the sources said. Six personnel of the National Volunteer Force who were on duty at the time of the burglary have already been removed.

The Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who is also the Chancellor of Vishwa Bharati, will be visiting the university on Friday, it was officially confirmed here today.

He is expected to discuss matters relating to security at the museum with Dr. Basu during his four-hour stay in Shantiniketan. Mr. Vajpayee, who will arrive at the Calcutta airport, will leave for Shantiniketan in a helicopter, according to State Government officials.

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