2 held for rape of Sikkim girl in Siliguri

Police sources said the accused duo had made posts in social media, seeking applications for a private job

TT Bureau   |   Siliguri/Jalpaiguri   |   16.04.22 : Two persons have been arrested on charges of raping a Sikkim girl at a Siliguri hotel in pretext of a job, a few days ago.

Police sources said the accused duo had made posts in social media, seeking applications for a private job. Accordingly, the girl applied for the job and the duo called her for an interview at a hotel near the North Bengal Medical College & Hospital in Siliguri. As she turned up at the hotel, the duo allegedly raped her.

On Thursday night, the police arrested Bablu Sarkar, who hails from New Jalpaiguri area, and Gautam Das, who is a resident of ward 24 in Siliguri, following a complaint filed by the girl.

The arrested duo were produced in a court in Siliguri and were remanded in police custody for three days.

In another incident, two Trinamul supporters have been nabbed from a village in Jalpaiguri’s Maynaguri for allegedly threatening a minor girl and her family to withdraw a molestation complaint against one of them.

Sources said Ajay Roy, a Trinamul supporter, had allegedly molested the girl on February 28, following which a police complaint was filed against him but he managed to secure a bail.

“On Wednesday, Ajay and his brother Bijoy reached the girl’s house and threatened them with dire consequences if they didn’t withdraw the complaint. This left the girl panicked who tried to commit suicide by setting herself on fire. She is under treatment at the NBMCH,” said a source.

Police arrested Bijoy on Thursday night and Ajay on Friday morning. Both were produced in a court in Jalpaiguri and were sent to police custody for four days.

Trinamul leaders of Maynaguri have labelled the incident as a “dispute between two families.”

“BJP is unnecessarily trying to do politics with the incident. We have met the victim and her family and want the law to take its own course,” said Shibshankar Dutta, a local Trinamul leader.

Officers summoned

Three police officers posted in Malda district have been called at the office of Damayanti Sen, the special commissioner (III) of Calcutta police, on Saturday in connection with the rape of a minor that was reported at a locality under Englishbazar police station of the district on March 27.

A few days back, the Calcutta High Court as issued an order, mentioning that Sen will monitor the investigations of four rape cases which were reported from different parts of the state.

Accordingly, the investigating officer of the case, the inspectorincharge of Englishbazar police station and the additional superintendent of police have been called in Sen’s office to know the progress of the investigation, said sources.

(Additional reporting by Soumya De Sarkar in Malda)