The West Bengal Police Sunday night arrested the prime accused in the assault of a drawing teacher at Belgharia in the North 24 Parganas district.

He has been identified as Bijoy Notto alias Papai, who was allegedly the first person in the group of around eight youths to start assaulting Nirupam Pal when he objected to their public consumption of alcohol Saturday morning.

The police had already arrested four youths, including a girl, and they were remanded in police custody for three days. According to police sources, they will also seek police custody of Bijoy Notto to know about the whereabouts of the other accused who are still at large.

According to the complaint lodged by Pal at the Belgharia police station against the accused, he was returning home from a puja when he saw them consuming alcohol on the roadside.

Pal, a resident of that area, claimed he had previously also protested against such activities. He alleged that as he got down from his bike and questioned their actions, they pinned him down and started kicking him. He said he had been hit in his eye, face and back of the head.

According to the police, the accused girl, who was also seen in the CCTV footage of the incident, in her statement, alleged that Pal had passed some lewd comments about her, and this prompted her friends to attack him. However, the police said eyewitnesses confirmed that the youths attacked Pal after he objected to them drinking alcohol.

The police said they are using CCTV footage and statements from the arrested accused to identify the other assailants. They said the attackers do not belong to the local area but hail from the Neemta police jurisdiction.

As cases of assault and anti-social activities continue to rise in Belgharia, residents have been raising concerns about their safety and security.