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Why Monojit ‘Mango’ Mishra's friends filmed Kolkata gang-rape incident. What was their plan?
Monojit Mishra, the main suspect in the Kolkata law college rape case, confessed that they filmed the assault, hoping to intimidate the survivor.
Monojit ‘Mango’ Mishra, the main accused in the Kolkata law college rape case, reportedly told the police that his co-accused — Pramit Mukhopadhyay and Zaib Ahmed — had filmed the sexual assault incident, and he believed the threat of leaking a video would prevent the 24-year-old survivor from reporting the crime.
In her complaint, the young woman told the police that the horrific crime took place on the evening of June 25 inside a security guard's room in South Calcutta Law College, and she was so shaken that she immediately called her father to pick her up.
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As she left, Monojit Mishra, 31 and his co-accused — Pramit Mukhopadhyay, 20, and Zaib Ahmed, 19, — slipped away from the campus, NDTV reported, citing police sources.
But Monojit Mishra, also known as 'Mango' among his friends, didn't stop there. According to the senior Kolkata Police sources, Monojit asked his friends to keep an eye on Kasba Police Station, just a kilometre away, to see if she would report him. The next day, he rang up a college staffer to check if police had come asking for him. Realising the net was closing in, he reached out to lawyer friends and college seniors — but no one stepped in, NDTV reported.
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Later that evening, Monojit met Zaib near Fern Road, close to Ballygunge station — less than 2 km from the college. That’s where police caught up with them. Pramit was arrested from his home the same night.
During police interrogation, Monojit reportedly admitted to the crime. Investigators have also found that Monojit had been eyeing her ever since she joined college.
According to what Zaib and Pramit told police, the survivor had previously rejected Monojit’s advances — something he didn’t take lightly. They said he wanted to “teach her a lesson". As a final trap, he offered her the post of college union general secretary — even though the campus hasn’t had an official students' body for years.
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All three are associated with the law college, where the alleged assault took place. Subsequently, the police also arrested the college’s 55-year-old security guard, Pinaki Banerjee, for “failing in his duties” during the incident.
Media reports, citing police records, indicate that Monojit is a “history-sheeter” with multiple serious charges against him, including assault, molestation, theft, and vandalism.
Monojit was once a student leader associated with the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad (TMCP), but was removed from the post in 2021 due to complaints of unruly behaviour. The TMC has distanced itself from Monojit.
Vandalised principal’s office in 2017
Monojit Mishra was accused of vandalising the principal’s office at South Calcutta Law College in 2017, according to a report in The Times of India. No police case was registered at the time, but the incident contributed to his removal from the student leadership in 2021 after continued complaints of misconduct.
Monojit had a long association with the college. He first joined in 2007, dropped out, and re-enrolled in 2017, finally graduating in 2022. During this time, he rose to a prominent role in the student wing of the TMC.
Booked for tearing woman’s clothes in 2019
In July 2019, Monojit allegedly assaulted a woman inside the college campus and tore her clothes. Police later filed a chargesheet in the case.
According to The Telegraph, this was one of several incidents that highlighted his violent behaviour on campus. Despite the charges, he continued to be seen around the college for years.
Police trying to get details of accused Monojit's meetings before arrest
Police officers were trying to identify the people whom the Monojit had met hours before he was arrested, an officer told news agency PTI on Wednesday.
The investigators were also checking if the other two accused - Zaib and Pramit - also contacted any person before they were picked up by the police.
"Their mobile phone location showed them moving around Ballygunge Station Road and Fern Place on the evening of June 26. The mobile tower dump is being used for the purpose," the officer said.
The movement of the accused three is very important for the sake of the investigation, he said.
"We are analysing the call detail records; we need to know the purpose of these meetings, which could have links to the case," he said.
According to the detectives, the trio were giving contradictory statements to mislead the police.
"Because these three are law students, they know certain tricks. They are giving out contradictory statements to confuse us," he said.
The police questioned the vice-principal of the college, Dr Nayna Chatterji, twice about her conversation with Monojit, who had called her on the morning of June 26.
On Wednesday, the investigators also talked to some of the 16 people who were present at the college on June 25 when the crime happened, he said.
A stain was found on a bed sheet seized from the guard's room and the police are trying to find out if that had any connection with the rape.
(With inputs from PTI)
