Kolkata Rape Case: SIT formed and one more arrested in the South Kolkata law college case

New Delhi (India) June 29: A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was created by Kolkata Police on Saturday to look into the Wednesday night gang rape of a 24-year-old law student on the campus of her college in south Kolkata.

Pradeep Kumar Ghoshal, the additional police commissioner for the south suburban area will be the team's head.

Officers obtained seven hours of video from the college's CCTV cameras on Saturday in order to follow the accused and survivor's movements.

Joint CP Rupesh Kumar said, “It will look into multiple aspects. We are checking CCTV footage to create a timeline. Other technical evidence is being analysed.”

According to reports, the seven students who were in the college union room until 6.10 p.m. on the day of the crime will also have their statements recorded by the police, who will then compare them to the testimonies of the accused and the survivor.

An official said, “All persons present on the campus after 5 pm are being identified and will be asked to join the investigation. This will include the current union general secretary, who left around 7.30 pm. The survivor’s presence on the campus is being reconstructed with substantial and corroborative evidence. For this, technical evidence will be our mainstay” regarding the investigation.

A South Kolkata Law College security guard was also taken into custody by the Kolkata Police. This is the fourth arrest in this case after the first three main accused were detained.

According to police sources, Pinaki Banerjee, the security guard, was there when the gang rape happened as per the preliminary investigation. He left the woman alone in his guard room after following the accused's instructions. According to investigators, the guard ignored her repeated requests for help.

Police already have the survivor's medical report which shows several scratches on her body, bite marks on her neck and forcible penetration. On Saturday, a court magistrate in Alipore recorded the student's private statement. According to an officer, her counselling has also started.

Zaib Ahmed and Pramit Mukherjee, current students and prime accused Monojit Mishra, an alumnus and ad hoc college employee were arrested on Thursday and are placed in police custody until July 1.

Due to the alleged involvement of a politician from the ruling Trinamool Congress' student branch, the incident sparked a political showdown in West Bengal and widespread outrage. It happened barely a few months after a postgraduate doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College was raped and killed.

Aadrika Tayal