KOLKATA: The police have arrested a 55-year-old security guard of South Calcutta Law College in connection with the alleged rape incident on the college premises. Earlier, the guard was detained by the police and, after finding inconsistencies in his statement, he was arrested on Friday night. Three other persons had already been arrested based on the complaint filed by the victim.
Three individuals had already been arrested based on the complaint filed by the victim. In her statement, the victim alleged that the security guard was present at the time of the incident. She stated that she was raped after being taken into the guard’s room (guardroom), during which Banerjee was made to sit outside.
A Kolkata Police officer said on Saturday, “The security guard was arrested this morning after we found that his replies were incoherent. His presence at the college has been captured in the CCTV installed in the college,” he said.
The officer added that Banerjee had failed in his duties as a guard. “We are also trying to ascertain whether he was alone on duty at the time,” the officer said.
“The guard has been inconsistent with his answers on why he did not act accordingly and stop the three accused from committing the crime. Also, he needs to reply on why and on whose instructions he left his room. This is also a kind of involvement in the crime,” the officer added.
In her complaint, the student said that the prime accused, Manojit Mishra, being the leader of the TMCP—the students’ wing of the Trinamool Congress—held power and influence in the college, which rendered the security guard ‘helpless’.
Meanwhile, results of the medical examination conducted on the victim at a state-run hospital in Kolkata corroborated her allegation of gang rape, according to police sources.
Along with Mishra (31), the police have arrested Zaib Ahmed (19) and Pramit Mukhopadhyay (20). The three accused were produced before the Alipore court on Friday and remanded in police custody until 1 July.
The police have confiscated the mobile phones of the three arrested individuals. A one-and-a-half-minute video clip was found on the mobile phone of one of them, police sources said on Saturday.
The complainant had earlier stated that her video was recorded during the gang rape and that she was threatened that it would be made viral if she spoke about the incident. Police suspect that the recovered video may be the same one.
According to sources, the police have retrieved 7.5 hours of CCTV footage as part of their investigation—from 3:30 p.m. to 10:50 p.m. on the day of the incident. Investigators are now cross-referencing the footage with the victim’s statement.
Sources said that the footage will play a key role in the probe. It is being used to determine who was inside the union room before, during, and after the incident, who was outside, and what role the security guard played during that time.
Additionally, a forensic team visited the college premises on Saturday morning, following an earlier visit on Friday, and collected samples from the scene.
Following the incident, West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu sought a report from the college authorities. In a statement, he said, “I am shocked. This incident is not desirable in the college.”
Raising concerns over campus safety, the West Bengal Education Department has asked the college to convene a meeting of its governing body on Monday. The college authorities have also been directed to evaluate whether additional security personnel are required.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has formed a four-member fact-finding committee to look into the incident. The panel includes former Union Minister and police officer Satpal Singh, former Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi, Lok Sabha MP Biplab Kumar Deb, and Rajya Sabha MP Manan Kumar Mishra. The committee will soon visit the site and submit its findings to BJP National President J.P. Nadda.
Meanwhile on Saturday, Kolkata police formed a five-member special investigation team (SIT) to probe the case.
The five-member SIT would be led by an assistant commissioner rank officer.
