Unknown youths wander around Silchar Medical College and steal valuables including mobiles everyday

Some unknown youths walk around the premises of Silchar Medical College Hospital almost everyday. They sometimes identify themselves as hospital staff, sometimes as an attendant to a patient admitted in the ward. But none of this is true and they are actually stealing various belongings including mobiles in different wards. This trend has been going on for a long time. Even belongings of people admitted in covid wards have been stolen. Ghungoor Police Station has received reports of theft many times. In some cases the police raided the hospital but to no avail as the miscreants found ways to escape vigilance. The family members of patients and hospital staffs are living in terror as they fear their valuables getting stolen anytime.

Recently, a young man got into a quarrel with a security guard at the hospital. It started when the security committee prevented the unidentified youth from entering a ward. The young man yelled that he was a hospital worker. The security guard then called other staffs of the hospital. As soon as they arrived the young man minced his words. Making a course correction, he said one of his relatives was admitted to the medical gynecology department. However, it was soon found that even his second claim was a white lie. When they threatened to hand him over to the police, he apologised and fled. There have been many more such incidents, but in all cases there wasn’t enough time to counter verify each of the claims made by the unidentified persons.

For the last few days, Dr. Rajeev Biswas, in-charge of the hospital, has been walking around the OPD with his mobile camera turned on talking to strangers, asking their names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. Although common people answer his questions, some people are feeling uncomfortable in it as is evident from his recorded videos. There is a lot of evidence that a vicious cycle of blood black marketing has developed around the blood bank of medical college. However, not only in the blood bank, but also in other departments of the hospital, a group of unidentified youths are carrying out various kinds of misdeeds.

Ghungoor Police Station In-Charge Chandan Bora said many complaints have been reported in the past about thefts inside the hospital. Police raided the hospital premises several times telling strangers to leave, but thousands of patients come to the hospital and are accompanied by their family members. It is not possible to interrogate each of them with suspicion.

A large portion of attendants who come to the hospital are from rural areas of the valley. They have to rush to the hospital for treatment of their family members and mentally go through extremely difficult situations. Taking advantage of the opportunity, a group of unidentified youths try to steal their belongings. An agency has been tasked with the security at the hospital. They have placed their staff at various gates. But the whole campus is not under CCTV surveillance, so unknown miscreants get a chance. In the current pandemic situation, the mask has become another weapon for them as they cover their faces, change their identities and tell lies. They are continuing their evil deeds and the common people are being harmed in the process.

General psychology says that the criminal tendency of an offender increases with the success in each crime perpetrated and they turn repetitive. Now the criminals have successfully achieved to steal and snatch. If the hospital authorities and the police do not take adequate measures now, many believe that the trend could escalate further in the future, from abductions to sexual abuse as we have recently seen in Silchar city.