Police officer, civic volunteer arrested for allegedly molesting woman in Kolkata

ASI Sandip Pal and civic police volunteer Abhishek Malakar were arrested on the basis of a complaint the victim lodged at Kasba police station of the Kolkata Police in the early hours of Saturday.

An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) and a civic police volunteer of the Bidhan Nagar city police district located on the eastern outskirts of Kolkata were arrested on Sunday for allegedly molesting a woman late on Friday night, police said.

The two men were held after footages caught on security cameras installed along the EM Bypass were examined. They were suspended immediately. (HT FILE PHOTO.)

The crime took place on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass when the victim, a resident of Asansol in West Burdwan district, was offered a lift on a motorcycle by the accused. She sought help after getting stranded because of lack of public transport.

She alleged that the duo molested her on the moving motorcycle and dropped her at a desolate place when she protested.

ASI Sandip Pal and civic police volunteer Abhishek Malakar were arrested on the basis of a complaint the victim lodged at Kasba police station of the Kolkata Police in the early hours of Saturday, an officer said on condition of anonymity.

The Kolkata police took up the matter with the Bidhan Nagar city police.

The two men were held after footages caught on security cameras installed along the EM Bypass were examined. They were suspended immediately.

The victim told the police that she came to Kolkata to appear for a job interview. She was supposed to live with a friend for two days. When she failed to get a bus that would take her to Garfa, where her friend lives, she stopped the civic volunteer who was coming on a motorcycle. The civic volunteer gave her a lift for some distance from Bidhan Nagar before calling the ASI over phone. She alleged that the ASI forced her to sit between the two men before they molested her.

With Kolkata gearing up for the December 19 municipal elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) targeted the government after the arrests since Kolkata was declared the safest metro for women in the 2020 annual report of the National Crime Records Bureau.

BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) of turning Kolkata into a lawless city.

“The arrests have proved that contrary to claims made by the TMC, Kolkata is not a safe place for women,” he said.

No TMC leader commended on the incident till Sunday evening.