Sipra Deb's email to NRI press on Feb. 25, 2005

UK NRI, Mr. Protul Deb kidnapped in Assam on the 17th of March 2004 and to date remains missing without trace

Daughter, Shipra Deb appeals to kidnappers by showing her father's picture

UK, Feb. 25, 2005
DR Sipra Deb (daughter)

My father Protul Deb was kidnapped in assam on the 17th of March 2004 and to date remains missing without trace. I went to India in October last year to bring focus on this case which has become an international matter because we are all British citizens and my dad was a British resident.

Its now nearly 11 months and still there is no sign of him. My family in England are desperate and my mother is very sick. How can we continue to suffer like this and no-one will do anything to help?

I wanted to update you on happenings and to publicly voice my concerns about an injustice that is shrouded in mystery and smacks of corruption and collution; the lack of progress in this case has made me realise that it is time for me to break my silence and ask the difficult questions clearly and openly.

The last 11 months have been the most terrible, saddening and frustrating in my life. My father has been missing without trace. He is old frail man who is a British Resident for 20 years and now suffers with a heart condition. His family (wife and three daughters all British citizens) are at their wits end here and are tired and defeated with each passing day. No amount of pressure on the British and Indian governments have resulted in any clues or progress. Last October I came to India accompanied by two British Police Officers from South Yorkshire Police to find out where my father was and find out what I had to do to get him back. This trip was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life and I was constantly faced with the possibility that my father would never return and we would never know what happened to him! However, after a tramatic and super human effort amidst huge media presence resulted in the Indian Government back tracking and accepting that this case should be dealt with. Accordingly the Chief Minister of Assam promised that our suffering would soon be at an end and a CBI enquiry would now commence. I returned from India full of hopes that at last I had done everything possible to raise the profile of my fathers case and I had returned with a promise from the indian Government and Assam government in particular that an enquiry by their elite security agency the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) would now occur.

Since my return which was 4 months ago, no such enquiry has started and I am now forced to ask some very difficult questions.

• Why has the promise of Chief Minister of Assam, Mr Tarun Gogoi come to nothing?
• What has the Assam Government got to hide?
• Is the Chief Minister of Assam protecting certain members of his cabinet and political party?
  
  I have a copy of a letter written by my father to the Chief Minister asking for his security personnel to be reinstated just prior to his abduction, in which he eerily forecast his own disappearance . In it he writes " I am afraid that my life is under threat and I am in danger from extremist terrorist groups who are trying to abduct me on the say so of a member of your cabinet"
  
  When I asked the Chief Minister about this, he claims he never received the letter!!
  As a result of my meeting with him, he promised that "as a mans life hangs in the balance" the process of the enquiry would be expedited immediately. Why then has The Assam Government delayed permission for such an enquiry to start?
• Why is the clearance for the enquiry not forthcoming from Assam? I have it on good authority from officials in the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs and from the CBI that they are yet to receive clearance from Assam to proceed with this case.
• Who is stopping the enquiry from going ahead?
  
  One of Assam's foremost Ministers is my Maternal Uncle Gautam Roy. Why has he not helped his sister find her Husband? Why has he put his political interests first instead of his family? What has he got to loose by such an enquiry? Is he protecting himself and/or his family?
  
  Mr Gautam Roy has a Son, Mr Rahul Roy who was involved in the same Bamboo business that my father was a part of. When one of the motives for his disappearance was business rivalry and all other bamboo merchants have been previously arrested and questioned, why was Mr Rahul Roy left out and never questioned?
  
  When my mother and I were in India in connection with my fathers disappearance, we informed the police about threats received from Mr Rahul Roy and his associates, why did the police never take any action?
  
  When the police were given information that related to the involvement of certain bamboo merchants (including Mr Rahul Roy) in instructing extremist groups from various sources, the police claimed they were unable to proceed without evidence, yet a few months later on Mr Roy's instructions, these merchants were arrested! Yet again no one from the Roy family was questioned.
  
  The Superintendent of Police (SP Dutta) in charge of the case was put under extrem pressure to prevent him giving information to the family and was given 24hr notice to transfer mysteriously to a different location when the news reached that I was coming to India to pursue the case. Why was this? Why was he warned against giving me information?
• Why were the statements held by the police given by key witnesses never witnessed by a magistrate? Why were these statements different to statements that I have from the same witnesses?
• Where are the 4 kidnappers who were arrested? Who did they represent and why were they freed without trial?
• Why do the police now claim that the United Liberation of Barak Valley does not exist even though they were the ones that first told us that this was the group involved?
• What about the 12 other people arrested in connection with the case? What happened to their statements and what action was taken?
• Why did the police state that the Incident report was not logged till three months after his disappearance when I know this to be false as I was there 4 days after my father disappeared!!!
• Why do the police insist they played no part in me paying money to the kidnappers when they advised me to do so and were with me when this happened? Why do they deny everything and then the Chief Minister tells me that he knew the police were there with me when money was being handed over? Who is telling the truth and why are so many people running scared?
• Who is controlling criminal investigations? The police or the politicians??......
  
  In the past 4 years since my father has had links with Assam, his life was made a living hell by Mr Gautam Roy and his direct family were persecuted with various forms of torture as a result of my father taking an interest in politics. When we look for motives as to my fathers disappearance we cannot ignore this line, yet no action or questions have ever been pursued relating to this matter.
  
  
• Why is there such a bias in the investigation?
• What do the Roy family know about my fathers disappearance?
• Can it be that my father disappeared into thin air and no one around knows what happened?
• I refuse to believe that !! Many people know and are under pressure not to say. Who are they afraid of?
• Why despite a high court case and huge pressure from the international community does my father still remain missing with no-one held accountable?
  
  I do not believe that I will never find the truth. It is unacceptable that this matter continues to be ignored. MY family will never accept that my father has disappeared without trace.
  
  These questions need to be asked and someone must give answers. Assam is in disgrace among the International Indian community and everyone here thinks it is a place of lawlessness and a place where corrupt officials and politicians alike run the state for personal gain rather than the good of the people. Civilisation seems not to have reached there and noone seems to be able to voice their fears or stand up and have a say because of the consequenses they might face.
  
  I am being asked to "FORGET I HAVE A FATHER". I will never do that! I want and demand justice in the name of my father, my family and humanity.
  
  I hope to visit India next month again to pursue my cause and to find the answers to these questions. Someone out there must have the answers. I just have to find out who. I am asking for your intervention in this matter and hope that you will help me by publishing my fears and questions which only someone like me who has nothing more to loose is taking the risk of asking. I hope you will be able to help me bring to light my cause and my plight.
  
  Many thanks
  
  Dr Sipra Deb
  Eldest daughter of Protul Chandra Deb (missing presumed dead)