Kolkata law student 'gang-rape' case: SIT formed, 7-hour CCTV timeline under lens; 90-second assault clips found on accused’s phones

KOLKATA: Kolkata Police on Saturday formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the gang rape of a 24-year-old law student on the campus of her college in south Kolkata on Wednesday evening.The five-member team will be led by assistant police commissioner (south suburban) Pradeep Kumar Ghoshal.

“It will look into multiple aspects. We are checking CCTV footage to create a timeline.

Other technical evidence is being analysed,” joint CP (crime & traffic) Rupesh Kumar said.Police have already received the survivor’s medical report that clearly indicates forceful penetration, bite marks on the neck and multiple scratches on her body, sources said.

The student’s confidential statement was recorded before an Alipore court magistrate on Saturday.

Her counselling has also begun, said an officer.Prime accused Monojit Mishra, an alumnus and ad-hoc college employee, and current students Zaib Ahmed and Pramit Mukherjee were arre-sted on Thursday and sent to police custody till July 1.Investigators have retrieved video clippings of the crime from the cellphones of the three accused. Each clipping is of around 90 seconds. The survivor had alleged in her complaint that the accused had filmed the sexual assault and threatened to circulate the clips if she went to the cops.

“We are sending the evidence for forensic confirmation,” an officer said.Cops on Saturday collected seven hours of footage from CCTV cameras installed in the college to track the movement of the survivor and the accused. “Of the 11 hours the survivor spent in college, we have collected all necessary footage beginning 3 pm and ending around 10.50 pm. The footage from the camera above the security guards’ room is crucial.

Evidence of her being forcibly taken into the guards’ room is being established,” the officer said.“We have also requested the father of the survivor to record his statement before the magistrate,” said Sourin Ghosal, public prosecutor at Alipore police court.Police will also record statements of the seven students who were present in the college union room till 6.10 pm on the day of the crime and corroborate these with the accounts of the accused and the survivor.

“All persons present on the campus after 5 pm are being identified and will be asked to join the investigation. This will include the current union general secretary, who left around 7.30 pm,” an investigator said.

“The survivor’s presence on the campus is being reconstructed with substantial and corroborative evidence. For this, technical evidence will be our mainstay,” he explained. It is also being verified if one of the accused visited a local medical shop to buy an inhaler for the survivor when she had breathing distress due to a panic attack.