Guwahati, July 24: Renowned music composer Ramen Baruah, who had gone missing from the Kachari ghat area near Latasil here on Monday morning, remained traceless amid intensive search operations on the Brahmaputra River, city police informed on Wednesday afternoon.
Addressing a media conference, Guwahati commissioner of police Diganta Barah said that CCTV footage had shown the 84-year-old music composer walking on the stretch adjacent to Gauhati High Court, leading to the Brahmaputra riverbank at 10.08 am on Monday.
Baruah, who had left his home at Latasil that morning, was seen in the CCTV visuals wearing a white kurta-pyjama and carrying a white polythene packet.
“According to the CCTV visuals (the only footage available), he appeared hale and hearty while walking towards the bank of the river Brahmaputra (near High Court). However, we have no footage of his return from the river bank,” the city commissioner of police said.
“Sniffer dogs were roped in to track his movement (from his residence at Latasil to the river bank), from which we could confirm that he had been to the river bank close to the water. His mobile phone was switched off at 10.09 am, and the location tracked at that time was the area behind Gauhati High Court,” the police official said.
Police had also spoken to witnesses at the market (Kachari Bazar) nearby who confirmed Baruah’s presence in that area on Monday morning.
“To further our investigation, we had to speak to his family members – his daughter, brother, noted singer Dipen Baruah, his niece and friends. Subsequently, we came to the conclusion that he was disturbed and not happy. The reasons for his unstable state of mind could only be personal and family related and, apparently, no one outside that family is involved,” Barah said, adding that there is no evidence of foul play so far.
Meanwhile, teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed on the Brahmaputra and intensive search operations are underway in the downstream districts (from Kamrup Metro to Dhubri) amid challenging conditions with the river in spate in some areas of the flood-hit state.
“SDRF teams along with NDRF are carrying out search operations in the river in Guwahati as well as in the downstream areas of various districts. However, till Wednesday afternoon, there has been no trace of Baruah even as we cannot exactly point out the area where any mishap might have taken place. Besides, since we have no concrete proof that he fell into the river, we cannot say anything…we still hope he is hale and hearty,” the city police commissioner said.
Baruah had composed music for several Assamese films of yesteryear, including Dr Bezbarua, Ajoli Nabou, Mukuta, Lalita and Kokadeuta Nati Aru Hati among others.