Bengal medical student ‘gangrape’: 2 of the 6 accused may turn approver, police say friend ‘tried to mislead’ probe

Police sources said that two of the six accused – Shiekh Riyazuddin (32) and Safiq (27), who had recorded their statements before the magistrate on Tuesday and were sent to judicial custody soon after – are likely to become police approvers, sources said.

“The in-camera statements made Riyazuddin and Safiq corroborate the allegations made by the medical student regarding the October 10 night incident that took place in a forested area behind the (private medical college) campus,” said a police officer involved in the probe.

“The investigation is still on. There are discrepancies in the statements made by the male friend and the five villagers arrested for the crime,” the officer said, adding that the male friend of the woman “even tried to mislead the probe initially”.

While the woman student and her male friend, who also studies in the same medical college, claimed they had gone out around 8 pm on October 10 to buy dinner, sources in the police said that the investigation found out that the two were in a relationship and were found by arrested villagers in a compromising condition.

“That is why the accused villagers demanded money… As the male classmate went back to college to get money, one of the villagers raped the student, and the two others watched. Later, two more villagers reached the spot,” the officer said.

The Indian Express had earlier reported that, according to the police, as well as the medical college, the woman student and her male friend had left the campus at 7.58 pm on October 10. Nearly half an hour later, by 8.42 pm, the male friend returned alone and left the campus again at about 8.48 pm. The two returned together at 9.29 pm.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, as the four accused were produced before a local court, the lawyer of the woman’s male friend sought his bail, submitting that no evidence was found of his involvement in the crime. The lawyer also claimed that the woman’s statement did not implicate his client and therefore he should be granted bail.

Objecting to the bail plea of the male friend of the medical student, Special Public Prosecutor Bibash Chakrabarty urged the court to allow investigation of his mobile phone.

“We urged the court to allow the police to probe the cellphone of the woman student’s male friend in order to retrieve the WhatsApp chats, which were deleted. That permission was granted by the court,” Chakrabarty said.

He said that the court also allowed the TI ( Test Identification) parade of the five accused, barring the friend, to be held on October 24 (Friday).

Adocate Partho Ghosh, the counsel of the medical student, said: “The court has also granted a TI (test Identification) parade for the five accused in the case. The TI parade was not sought for the male friend as he has already been identified.”

While recording her statement before the magistrate, the woman student had said that her male friend “molested” her and fled during the alleged assault by one of the local villagers.

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