Trio with a police connection

Calcutta,  (CNST) Feb. 19: Proximity to a police officer may have given a "sense of protection" to the three young men arrested for the rape of a 37-year-old lady in Calcutta, though the trio's names had made it to at least four police stations before the assault.

The Telegraph has learnt that the three have cases against them in the police stations. Yet, they felt emboldened enough to have a free run through manned traffic intersections on the night of February 5.

They roamed the party district freely because at least one officer deputed to keep watch on them had almost become a silent accomplice, sources said today.

Sumit Bajaj, Ruman Khan and Naser were today sent to 14 days' police custody. The charge has been converted from rape to gangrape after the court granted the police permission for such a request. (See Metro)

The police station in Park Street itself has a complaint against the trio for a brawl in the same five-star discotheque from where they had left with the lady after allegedly befriending her.

Police stations in neighbouring Shakespeare Sarani, Beniapukur and Bhowanipore, too, have their names on the record books. "These are not wanted criminals but rowdies whose activities the local police stations were aware of," an officer said.

Police sources said a Park Street sub-inspector enjoyed a "very good relationship" with Sumit, Ruman and Naser, "inside the nightclub and outside".

The same officer has been on duty at the discotheque for around three years ' a stint that could not have stretched for so long without the approval of senior officers.

The officer, police sources said, is also known to two of the three suspects who are still to be arrested. The two ' Naser's brother Kader and Johnny ' were allegedly in the Honda City when the woman was raped.

"When we were desperately looking for suspects, there was an officer in the police force (the sub-inspector) who knew about a group with a history. Since the officer visits the nightclub every weekend, he had become friendly with all the faces who frequent the place," said an officer at Lalbazar.

Through this officer, the police were able to trace a woman who frequents the nightclub and knows the familiar faces there. She corroborated the police's conclusion ' based on mobile tower data ' that the duo earlier identified by the victim were not at the hotel that night.

"This lady had seen the victim exchanging words with a group of young men. She was shown photographs of Sharafat and Azhar. She said it was not the same duo," said an officer. "Instead, she provided us with some vital leads that helped us track down the suspects."

The nightclub is a "coveted posting" on the police circuit. Earlier, plainclothesmen from the detective department used to be there every weekend.

"But the routine was scrapped after superior officers came to know that the men supposed to keep an eye on the nightclub crowd were themselves taking advantage of the five-star hotel and consuming liquor free," an officer said. "Now the sleuths visit nightclubs only when they pursue a particular case."

Since then, Park Street police station looks after the nightclubs in its area. Every weekend night (February 5 was a Sunday), 30 policemen are deployed at "strategic locations", besides at least 20 traffic personnel.

"We deploy five to seven men right outside the five-star hotel and one officer (the sub-inspector) at the nightclub," said a Park Street officer.

Some of the men in uniform have grown "so close" to some people, one officer said, that "they have got a sense of protection" from the police.

Kader, a suspect still at large, is said to be seeing a Tollywood actress and had told friends they would tie the knot soon. He had visited this actress on the sets of her debut film. "A resident of Taltala in central Calcutta, he came across as a goon and he flaunted a gun on the sets one day," said a Tollywood source.

"We wondered what this girl was doing with a boy like that but she had told friends that they were dating since her college days. She had his photograph saved as her cellphone wallpaper," said another source.

Sumit, 21, is from a well-to-do family in Gariahat and his father runs a transport business. "Most of the time, he finances the weekend parties," said an officer.

Ruman, 25, who lives in his grandfather's house in Beniapukur, looks after his father's tannery in Topsia. Kader and Naser are brothers. Their father deals in industrial chemicals.