A 21-year-old woman was allegedly gangraped by five-six youths in a truck, looted her belongings and then dropped her in a deserted place in the city, police said on Monday.
A drug addict, was arrested this evening in connection with the crime committed last night, Kolkata Police Commissioner S K Purakayastha said. He was identified as Mohammad Hamid alias Raja.
"We have arrested Mohammed Hamid in the case. He has admitted to the crime. The victim is quite stable now. We are investigating the case and are on a lookout to nab the other culprits," Purakayastha said after meeting the girl at Belle Vue clinic.
The woman is also believed to have recorded a statement, but police refused to divulge details.
The incident took place when the woman, an employee of a mall in the southern part of the city and who hails from Kulgachia in Howrah district, was returning home along with her friends around 9 pm.
Police said the woman and her friends hired a taxi to Park Circus where she dropped her companions and then went to Kidderpore from where she intended to catch a bus to Howrah.
At that time, a car stopped by her side and five-six youths pulled her inside the vehicle brandishing a knife. The car then sped off to a deserted area nearby where the youths pulled her out and then dragged her inside a vacant lorry and took turns in raping her.
According to police sources, the truck in which the crime took place has also been tracked.
The victim in an unconscious state, was dumped near Babughat by the Ganga early in the morning. After regaining her senses, she went to the Howrah station and from there called her relatives, police said.
Later, she was taken to the Howrah State General Hospital from where she was shifted to the private super speciality clinic.
Police is checking CCTV footage and a team of Kolkata Police Detective Department is looking into the case.
Initially the police said the woman was 25-years-old, but later on it was known that she is 21.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee promised stern action against the culprits.
"I have directed the administration to immediately arrest the culprits and take stringent action against them. The culprits will not be spared," she told reporters in Siliguri, adding her government would take care of the woman's treatment at the private clinic.
