RailEnquiry

HOWRAH: The man accused of molesting and robbing a 26-year-old techie in a ladies compartment of the Delhi-Howrah Janata Express last Sunday was arrested from Uttarpara railway station in Hooghly on Friday evening. He was produced in court on Saturday and remanded in police custody for seven days.

However, contrary to the woman's account, the accused — identified as Deb Shankar Sau, 38 — told police that he had boarded the compartment to rob the woman and didn't attempt to molest her. Sau has a criminal background and was out on bail in connection with a dacoity he had carried out last year.

Sau's family, however, claimed that he was falsely implicated in this case. They alleged that Sau was caught in a ladies compartment of a local train at Srirampur on Thursday and asked to pay a fine. As he didn't have the money, his mobile phone was confiscated and he was stamped on his arm. When he returned with the fine to recover his mobile phone at the Seoraphuli GRP on Friday, he was arrested. But the GRP stuck to its stand. They said Sau could be nabbed because of the accurate sketch drawn by the artist and constant vigil by officers. Probe revealed that the accused who owns and operates a mechanized rickshaw van probably saw his sketch being circulated and tried to change his appearance. He cropped his hair, trimmed his moustache and even trimmed his eyebrows. "The victim had stated that the man — clad in a lungi and half-sleeved shirt — had boarded the compartment from Bandel. Sau, however, said that he boarded the train at Srirampur after spotting the woman travelling alone in the compartment. He said he thought that he intended to rob the woman and didn't try to molest or assault her. He tried to snatch her mobile phone. This was when the woman screamed and jumped out of the emergency window. He apparently got nervous thinking that the woman may have died and picked up her mobile phone and jumped off the train between Belur and Liluah," a GRP officer said.

"The GRP wasn't sitting idle. A team comprising Dinabandhu Sasmal, OC, Belur GRP, Ashok Dutta, OC, Howrah GRP, Uttam Ghosh, OC, Sheoraphuli GRP and Amalendu Biswas, OC, Bandel GRP was formed. Court inspector Azizul Haque coordinated the efforts. Debashis Mukherjee, a Howrah-based artist, prepared a sketch of the accused. This sketch was released to the media on Thursday," the officer added.

Meanwhile, Sau reportedly changed his looks after seeing his sketch. On Friday evening, the accused went to Uttarpara station to board a train when he was nabbed him.

Sau has a criminal background. In 2012, he was arrested on charges of committing a dacoity in Singur and was out on bail. He also operated as a snatcher on trains and looted scrap material from factories. Sau was charged under Section 354 (molestation) and Section 392 (robbery). "The accused has already confessed that he had planned to rob the woman," said Milan Kanta Das, SRP, Howrah.

The GRP plans to hold a test identification parade for the victim to identify the accused.