A minor girl was allegedly raped inside a factory premises in West Bengal’s Hooghly district on Thursday evening, following which the police arrested two men. The incident has sparked an uproar in the area with local Opposition leaders claiming that the main accused was a Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader, a claim the party denied.

The police identified the main accused as Dipankar Adhikari, who claimed that he was a local TMC leader and a civic volunteer. However, both the TMC and the police denied his claim.

According to the police, the incident took place on Thursday evening when the 16-year-old girl went inside the closed factory with a friend. Adhikari and two of his friends allegedly reached the spot, threatened the friend to leave, and then raped the minor.

“A case has been filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. Two people were arrested and produced before the Serampore court. The medical checkup of the minor has been done, and the investigation is going on. We are also investigating whether any other accused were present there or not,” a senior police officer from Hooghly district said.

Opposition parties claimed that two more accused were involved in the incident and demanded their arrest. Local CPI(M) leaders also sat in a dharna before the jurisdictional police station, in protest, and claimed that an extortion allegation had been raised against Adhikari, but no action was taken.

“Everybody knows the main accused is a local TMC leader. He has been doing whatever he wanted for many days, and this has resulted in such an incident. It is intolerable,” local BJP leader Indranil Dutta said.

However, local TMC leaders denied all the allegations. “Our party is in power. Maybe some miscreants are trying to walk with us to get some benefits. But if they engage in crime, the police will take steps, and the law will take its own course. Our party will not tolerate such criminals,” TMC leader Kalachand Banerjee said.