Model harassed by bike-borne youths in Kolkata, 7 arrested

Kolkata: Model-turned-actor Ushoshi Sengupta was allegedly chased and harassed by unidentified miscreants near the Jawaharlal Road crossing while returning home from work, police said on Tuesday.

Seven persons have been arrested in connection with the incident that took place around 11.40 pm on Monday, they said.

The arrests were made on the basis of video grabs provided by Sengupta and CCTV footages.

Sengupta, 30, said she was returning home along with a colleague in an app-based cab, which was hit by a few bike- borne youths who dragged the driver out and roughed him up.

“A few boys on a bike without any helmet hit our cab at Exide intersection and Jawaharlal Road crossing… Around 15 boys appeared from nowhere and dragged the driver out, started beating him up. This is when I stepped out and started shouting, calling the police and simultaneously started taking video of the entire incident,” she said.

She claimed that officers of the nearest Maidan Police Station initially did not come for help despite her repeated requests.

“However, some officers of Maidan Police Station reached the spot only to be pushed by the boys before fleeing,” Sengupta said.

She said that around six boys on three bikes followed the cab near the Lake Gardens area in south Kolkata, where she dropped her colleague home.

“They stopped my car, threw stones and dragged me out and tried to break my phone to delete the video. My colleague jumped out out of fear and I started shouting to attract some locals’ attention there.

“I managed to telephone my dad and my sister at my residence in the next lane when they escaped,” Sengupta said.

The actor also alleged that officers at the nearby Charu Market Police Station refused to take any complaint and advised her to, instead, approach the Bhawanipore Police Station.

“After raising a lot of questions, the officer took my complaint but refused to take the complaint of the driver,” she said in a Facebook post, recounting the incident.

The Kolkata Police on Tuesday said it has arrested the seven persons and also initiated an inquiry into the alleged non-registration of FIR.

“We have taken this incident very seriously and seven persons have been arrested so far. On the order of the Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, an inquiry regarding the non-registration of FIR has been initiated into this incident, at a very senior level,” the Kolkata Police wrote on its Twitter handle.

When contacted, a senior police officer said, “Those arrested seem to be locals who have been violating traffic rules for quite some time. We are hopeful of nabbing the others from the CCTV footages of the surrounding areas.