Kolkata law student rape: All three accused were Trinamool's student wing members, say police (3rd Ld)

Kolkata, June 27 (IANS) All the three persons arrested in connection with a law college student being raped within her college premises here two days ago, were associated with the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) -- the students' wing of ruling Trinamool Congress, police sources and fellow students of the accused said on Friday.

Among the three arrested in the matter, a former student of the law college, Monojit Mishra (30) was quite influential and close to several top Trinamool Congress leaders in the state, as claimed by the other students of the college.

He was also recently appointed as a temporary staff of the same college by the institute's governing body.

Similarly, the two present students of the college namely Pramit Mukhopadhyay (20) and Zaib Ahmed (19), were quite active in the Trinamool Congress' student union activities as claimed by their fellow students.

All the three accused were presented at a city court in Kolkata on Friday and were remanded to police custody till July 1.

The investigating officials seized the mobile phones of all three accused persons and are currently examining these devices for further clues in the matter, Public Prosecutor Sourin Ghosal claimed.

Meanwhile, due to the timing of the alleged rape, questions about the general administrative functioning of the college are being raised.

The incident reportedly took place after 7 p.m. on June 25.

According to the Vice-principal of the college, Noyna Chatterjee, the said institution being a day college, the classes were over by 5 p.m.

As per the FIR, the victim was called to the common room on the college campus at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Now questions were raised how could the accused persons operate from the common room and call the victim there at 7 p.m. when the main gate of the college was supposed to be closed for the students at 5 p.m.

The victim also alleged the three accused persons of getting assistance from a security guard of the college premises in orchestrating the heinous crime.

It is alleged that after the victim reached the common room, Mishra asked her to prove her loyalty to TMCP.

As per the complaint, as the victim smelt some bad intentions behind the proposal, she tried to leave the campus immediately. But she was dragged to a guard room within the campus and was raped there.

She had also accused the security staff of the campus of playing the role of mute spectators while the sexual assault was taking place.

The victim also claimed that the accused persons reportedly threatened the victim not to report about the incident.

State TMCP President Trinakur Bhattacharya claimed that if proven guilty, the accused persons should be punished severely even if they are associated with the student's wing of the Trinamool Congress.

--IANS

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