Cal HC directs CID to probe rape allegation against TMC MLA

The Calcutta High Court today directed the state CID to investigate an allegation of rape against a Trinamool Congress MLA by a woman who claimed he had sexually exploited her with the promise of a job.
Justice Debangshu Basak directed that an officer of the rank of a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) probe the allegation against Chopra MLA Hamidul Rahman.
The woman had moved the petition before the HC seeking the transfer of the case to the CID and claiming that the North Dinajpur district police had not been able to proceed with the probe since 2014, when she filed the case before a magistrate.

Government counsel Amitesh Banerjee produced a report by the North Dinajpur superintendent of police which also proposed that the investigation be handed over to the CID in view of the serious nature of the charge.
The woman alleged that the accused had been sexually exploiting her since 2005 on the promise of giving her a job.
She claimed in her petition that she had first attempted to file a complaint at the Chopra police station in North Dinajpur in September 2014, but it was not entertained. Following this, she had moved the high court.

In May, 2016, Justice Manjula Chellur had directed her to file a complaint with the magistrate, which she did before the additional chief judicial magistrate at the Islampur court.

Her counsel Anjan Bhattacharya submitted before Justice Basak that even then the police did not pursue the investigation, following which she moved the high court seeking the transfer of probe to the CID.
Hearing both the petitioner's and the state's lawyers, the high court directed the district police to hand over the investigation to the CID.