Kolkata: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that she wants the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to hand over the investigation of the Nobel medallion theft case to the state government.
“The CBI is officially investigating the Nobel case, but has had no success so far. We have given them several reminders that we want to probe the case legally, and urged them to release the case. We have not got any response yet,” Ms Banerjee said at the administrative meeting at Bolpur in Birbhum district.
She was responding to a query from a student of Visva Bharati University, who urged her that they want the Nobel medallion back.
“When a Central agency is probing the matter, legally we cannot conduct a parallel probe. However, our sleuths are enquiring about it and have got some leads.
Rabindranath Tagore’s emotions are attached to it and to honour his emotions we can do the ‘impossible’,” she said.
On August 2016, the chief minister during one of her visit in Shantiniketan, had said that it was a matter of shame that Rabindranath Tagore’s Nobel medallion was stolen and that the state government might, if given a chance, try to retrieve it.
Tagore’s memorabilia, including the medallion, disappeared on March 25 2004, from the university’s Rabindra Bhavan museum. When the Nobel had gone missing, Ms Banerjee, who was in the Opposition, had demanded a CBI probe.
The CBI officially took over the case on March 30, 2004. After an unsuccessful attempt at recovery, it closed the case on August 30, 2007. Under political pressure, the case was reopened on September 18, 2008.
On August 23, 2009, the CBI, sent a letter to the former vice chancellor of the university, Rajat Kanta Roy, and closed the case owing to lack of clues.
