On road trip to Bankura, Udayan relishes 'lyangcha', poses for cops

KOLKATA: En-route from Kolkata Airport to Bankura: Outside terminal 1A of Kolkata Airport, he hid behind taller police officials as hundreds of flashbulbs popped. He looked dazed when he found hundreds pressing forward for a closer look outside Bankura Sadar police station around 11 pm. He even looked frightened when cops somehow shielded him from a thousand-strong crowd on the Bankura court premises on Tuesday . But look beyond these fleeting moments and you get a glimpse of the psychopathic killer who has been grabbing national headlines for the past few days.
As TOI trailed Udayan Das during his four-hour journey from Kolkata airport to Bankura, it were those “other“ moments that defined this man he savoured the famous `lyangcha' at Shaktigarh, posed for mobile cameras at Dur gapur and explained to cops accompanying him why a highway journey at night excites him.
“He might look timid, but has a sharp analytical mind. He would have done wonders had he chosen a nobler profes sion,“ one of the six cops who has spent the last six days with him was overheard telling his mate. Hardly has the Kolkata airport witnessed a stronger police presence to receive a criminal as on Monday evening when flight 6E 0252 from Raipur touched down.
With the Bidhannagar police throwing around a two-layer security ring and the CISF assisting them in cordoning off the pick-up area, terminals 1A and 1B were overrun with cops. At the gate, Bankura police had lined up four SUVs for the onward journey .
Udayan emerged around 6.45 pm, realized why everyone was there, and scooted behind the taller cops. He was literally pushed inside one of the SUVs and the convoy sped towards Belghoria Expressway . Such was the nervousness of the Bankura team that they even missed a simple U-turn and landed in a major traffic chaos and had to be guided back to Bally bridge by the Bidhannagar cops. Travelling at a steady speed of 60-80 kmph, the convoy first stopped near Tarakeswar on Durgapur Express keswar on Durgapur Expressway and a second time at Singur to enable a reshuffle of the 12 cops accompanying him. But five days of investigating three macabre murders and the daylong wait at Raipur airport with a self-confessed killer had taken its toll on the cops and they soon needed another break. And so the convoy stopped again at Shaktigarh.
“We had gone to Bhopal to execute a single search warrant. We suspected Udayan had sold off Akansha and that he was a trafficker. That was February 1. We discovered a most gruesome murder. And then discovered two more,“ one of the officers explained to a highway patrol man.
“Dekhben dada, o kintu ekhon amader Bankurar Jamai No. 1, langchata jeno bhalo hoye (give him a good piece, he is now Bankura's `Jamai No.1'),“ came an attempt at black humour from a cop as a the iconic sweet was passed on to Udayan. The 32-year-old ate without a word and even offered a portion to a hungry cop sitting next to him.
The refreshment soon loo sened his tongue and Udayan began talking as the convoy sped on, police sources said.From cricket to cinema, he is aware of all the latest developments.
He dished out information in such a hurry that the cops were at a loss to make out how much was truth and how much made-up, the sources said.
The convoy was by now hitting the 80 kmph mark, the hooters were out and the trucks were making way . The speed must have got him excited for when the vehicles made their last stop at Durgapur, about 45 km ahead of Bankura, Udayan was even smiling and posing for the local cops who had their mobile phones out. But throughout the journey he never once stepped out of the car.
The next part of the journey was completed in a jiffy with the the convoy touching 100 kmph. Around 10.50 pm, Bankura Sadar was in sight.Hundreds of men and women had gathered outside the police station to catch a glimpse of the `killer'. The Rabindra Sarani area where Akansha lived is minutes away . There was a stampede like situation when SP Sukhendu Heera arrived to interrogate Udayan. “Go back home. Your `jamai' will be visible to you in court tomorrow,“ said the SP in half-jest, half-anger.
The crowd dissipated, only to return in greater numbers on the court premises on Tuesday.