Mamata Banarjee says state govt can try to find Rabindranath Tagore's Nobel medallion

Bolpur: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday that if the state government was given the responsibility, it could try to retrieve the Nobel medallion of Rabindranath Tagore lost in 2004 from the Visva Bharati University. On a visit to Santiniketan, she said she deeply regretted the theft of the priceless object, saying, “Though the CBI is investigating the theft, we can try to find it out, if given the responsibility.” [caption id=“attachment_2789016” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A file photo of Mamata Banerjee. PTI[/caption] The CBI back in 2010 had closed its investigation into the theft of the country’s first Nobel prize medal awarded to Tagore n 1913 and other Tagore memorabilia citing dearth of major clues. The then CBI director, Ashwini Kumar, had said that the probe could be reopened if more information came its way. The chief minister unveiled a slew of development projects for the Birbhum district after attending an administrative meeting, among which are a new IT hub, which is already in progress, theme city Gitabitan, housing complex at Prantik and a newly designed Tarapith area. The chief minister said the district would immensely benefit with the completion of the ongoing and new projects. Apart from the under-construction IT hub, an MSME market would be built up to sell produce of small and medium artisans where products of the well-known labels like Tantuja, Manjushree and Khadi would be available. The market would also host a Biswa Bangla outlet, she said. A 129-acre land has been identified and granted to the Sriniketan-Santiniketan Development Authority (SSDA) for the development of theme city ‘Gitabitan’ in Bolpur, which would promote the state’s art and culture. A cluster of housing complexes would come up at in the Prantik area to meet the growing demand for shelter by local people, she said, adding that work was in progress to re-design the temple town ‘Tarapeeth’. Lauding the law and order situation in Birbhum district, Banerjee said the state police would raise another battalion to cope with the emerging situation in the district and its adjacent areas. She asked the police to act impartially. The chief minister held a meeting with the Visva Bharati University authority to discuss development projects. In the meeting, she discussed with the officials the theft of the Nobel medallion of Rabindranath Tagore and observed that she would be the happiest person if the priceless object could be retrieved.