Octogenarian doctor killed

The victim, Dr SK Mukherjee, was known in his town, and in the entire southwestern region, as a man who had rendered selfless service to humanity. Such men usually remain above personal rivalry and animosity that could lead to the kind of dastardly crime perpetrated in Jhenaidah. It has proved our expectations and calculations wrong.

It is not clear what was the motive behind the killing. But initial reports indicate that the doctor might have angered some local extortionists by not responding to their illegal demands. If that were true, then another innocent man has fallen victim to organised extortionism -- an all-pervasive malady in our context today.

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A closer analysis will surely reveal that most of the crimes being committed in the country are in fact a manifestation of people's helplessness being exploited ruthlessly by extortionists, kidnappers and hoodlums of all kinds. The law enforcers do not seem to have an answer to what is going on in the cities. But the situation is different in the smaller towns where the inhabitants know each other and the police can keep tab on the goings-on a little more easily.

But the rise in the number of crimes suggests that police have failed to make their presence felt. And the Jhenaidah incident has shown what a price citizens have to pay when law enforcers fail.

The killing of the doctor is, however, more than a law and order failure. It has brought disgrace to all of us. Society should have acknowledged the service that the octogenarian doctor had rendered to it, but the way he was paid back has been shocking, to say the least.

The law enforcers should activate themselves immediately with a view to bringing the perpetrators of this mind-boggling crime to justice. They must realise that people's confidence in the existing law enforcing system will be further eroded if the killing of a respected, elderly doctor is treated as one of the many crimes that are committed every day.