3 held on charges of rape attempt

Three people were arrested on charges of attempting to rape a woman after kidnapping her when she was returning home from somewhere near AJC Bose Road.

Police said the accused followed her when she was walking on AJC Bose Road to take a bus. They forcefully took her inside a health centre run by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC). The health centre is situated in the office of ward number 63 of the corporation. 

 The accused including the security guard of the health centre Md Toufir closed its gate after dragging her inside. They had forced her to consume alcohol. The victim alleged that their intention was to rape her. 

The situation was such that she couldn’t come out of the health centre and cried for help. Hearing her cry, some neighbours gathered outside. One of them dialed the helpline number 100 and sought police intervention. 

Policemen posted at the control room situated in the city police’s headquarters at Lalbazar passed the information to Shakespeare Sarani police station. A team from Shakespeare Sarani police station rushed to the spot and broke into the health centre. They rescued the girl and caught Toufir. However, the other two accused had managed to flee. 

Police had initiated a probe based on the allegations of the woman. Later two others were also arrested. 

Investigation revealed that the security guard was not an employee of the KMC. “He was an employee of a private security agency,” said an official of KMC.     

Sushmita Bhattacharya, councillor of ward number 63 of KMC, said the incident has not taken place in the ward office. It seems it took place in a health centre. 

Sources said the security agency from which Toufir was hired will be show caused. 

Mayor Sovan Chatterjee said they were looking into the matter and strict measures will be taken so that such incidents never repeat in future.