Durgapur case: All five accused arrested within 48 hours
The Statesman | 14 October 2025A temporary employee of Durgapur Municipal Corporation (DMC), Sheikh Nasiruddin alias Samrat, who had been detained by police yesterday, was formally arrested today. The fifth accused, Sheikh Sofikul, named in the FIR, was arrested from the Gopalmath area of Durgapur, though he is a resident of Bijra village.
Both were produced before the Durgapur Sub-Divisional Court today. Yesterday, the court had remanded the other three accused to ten days’ police custody. The accused had allegedly snatched the victim’s mobile phone during the crime. The victim’s friend, also a second-year MBBS student, who was accompanying her, is still being questioned by the police.
Sunil Kumar Choudhary, Commissioner of Police (ADPC), is personally supervising the investigation and providing regular updates to DGP Rajeev Kumar. “We have arrested all five accused within 48 hours of the case being lodged, and investigations are in progress,” said Abhisekh Gupta, DCP (East), ADPC.
Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari met the victim’s father today and alleged that the ruling party is trying to hush up the case, as one of the accused is linked to it. “The arrested Sheikh Nasiruddin is a temporary DMC staff member, and his father holds a party post, which I learnt today. The forensic experts visited the scene nearly 48 hours after the incident, despite the medical report suggesting gang-rape,” he alleged.
The LoP further stated that while the chief minister of Odisha, Mohan Charan Majhi, has spoken with the victim’s father over the phone, the chief minister of West Bengal has so far not contacted the family.
Narendranath Chakraborty, district president of the Trinamul Congress (TMC) in West Burdwan, said that ministers Moloy Ghatak and Pradip Majumdar are directly in touch with the ADPC, taking regular updates, and have instructed the police to act strictly, as the state maintains a “zero tolerance” policy towards crimes against women.
An official team from the Odisha government is expected to arrive in Durgapur today to meet the victim at the hospital. The private medical college hospital has meanwhile tightened security by deploying additional guards at the main gate to prevent political gatherings and disturbances.
