Hours after Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi claimed that the key accused in the Guwahati molestation case was in Bhubaneswar, the Odisha police on Monday said its Assam counterpart is yet to contact it on the matter.
"The Assam police has not sent any requisition. They have neither contacted me nor the commissioner of police of the twin city of Bhubaneswar-Cuttack in connection with the molestation case," DGP Prakash Mishra told PTI.
"Tracking of key accused Amarjyoti Kalita's mobile phone has pointed to his presence in Bhubaneswar. The Assam police is in touch with its Odisha counterparts and we hope to trace him soon," Gogoi told reporters in Guwahati.
Mishra said information about tracking of Kalita's phone three days back, which hinted he had called someone in the city, had already been conveyed to the Assam police but there was no further development on that front.
"Later it was found that someone using Kalita's phone had called up a public booth located at the railway station here," a senior official, requesting anonymity, said. "It is not possible to make any headway as hundreds of people throng the PCO daily," DCP Nitinjit Singh said.
The Odisha police had launched a search operation on Sunday following reports that the key accused was in the state.
"The policemen searched a number of hotels and lodges near the station but in vain," Mishra said.
The police also conducted searches in Puri's hotels and guest houses following reports that Kalita could be hiding there, Puri SP Anoop Kumar Sahoo said.
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