Gunman still at large 72 hours after daylight murder in Krishnagar
The Statesman | 29 August 2025
Seventy-two hours after a college girl was shot dead in broad daylight barely 500 metres from the office of the Superintendent of Police and a cluster of top administrative officers’ residences, the alleged killer, Debraj Singh, continues to elude arrest.
The brazen escape of the youth through the heart of a heavily-guarded administrative zone has not only stunned residents but has also raised searching questions about the efficacy of policing in the district headquarters town.
Investigators admit their best lead at present is the mobile phone of the slain student, Ishita alias Isha Mallik (19). Forensic scrutiny of the device has revealed that despite publicly distancing herself from Debraj, Isha had remained in intermittent contact with him over the phone after shifting from Kachrapara to Krishnagar. Police believe this may have given the assailant precise knowledge of her whereabouts on Monday afternoon, when her parents and brother were away and she was alone on the upper floor of their Manikpara residence.
Around 2 p.m, Singh is alleged to have entered the house armed with a pistol, climbed to the first floor and shot Isha point blank in the head. Investigators say such calculated confidence suggests prior criminal exposure, pointing out that Singh hails from a family in Uttar Pradesh with a record of involvement in crime. “Only someone who knew she was alone, and was accustomed to violence, would have dared to walk in with a firearm despite the ring of security installations all around,” a senior officer observed.
What followed has deepened the mystery. After firing the fatal shot, Singh was seen calmly walking away by a local youth from North 24-Parganas who had come to the neighbourhood with his daughter. A photograph he inadvertently clicked on his phone camera has so far been the only visual trace of the accused. Despite a significant number of CCTV cameras in the city, the police have been unable to obtain footage of Singh’s movements after he exited the Mallik residence.
Whether he melted into the crowd, boarded a waiting vehicle or slipped into a temporary hideout remains unclear. Teams have already been dispatched to Uttar Pradesh, while search operations continue in Nadia and adjoining districts. Singh had earlier enrolled in a Krishnagar institute after passing his Higher Secondary privately, which, officers believe, gave him a fair knowledge of the town’s lanes and escape routes.
The prolonged absence of a breakthrough has triggered public criticism of the police.
Isha’s father, Dulal Mallik, maintains his faith in law enforcement. “I trust the police. They must arrest him. I only want justice,” he told reporters. Additional Superintendent of Police, Meet Kumar, assured that an arrest was imminent: “We expect to apprehend him very soon. The investigation is proceeding in full swing.”