Massive protests in Tripura over gang-rape of college girl; two held

Agartala, May 11 Various organisations, including student and women's bodies, in Tripura staged protests on Thursday against the kidnap and gang-rape of a college student.

The condition of the girl, who is undergoing treatment at a government hospital, is stated to be "very critical".

A police spokesman said that Gautam Sharma, the prime accused in the case and the driver of the vehicle in which the crime was committed, has been arrested along with co-accused Sudip Chetri, and a hunt is on to nab the remaining two accused persons.

He also said that cash to the tune of Rs 90 lakh has been seized from the house of one of the accused persons, Prasanjit Paul, who managed to flee before the raid party reached his home.

Additional teams have been formed and raids are being carried out in various parts of the state to nab the remaining accused persons.

The 20-year-old student was kidnapped on Monday afternoon when she was returning from her college on the outskirts of Agartala.

According to the police, the victim was found at an abandoned place along the bypass road late on Monday night and was taken to the hospital, where her condition is stated to be very critical.

The victim's mother said that her daughter was returning home when Gautam offered her a lift.

There were three others in the car, the girl's mother said, as she alleged that all the four persons raped her daughter inside the moving vehicle and abandoned her along the bypass road.

Tripura Ganatantrik Nari Samity, a women's wing of the CPI-M, SFI, DYFI and other organisations on Thursday gheraoed the police headquarters here and staged a massive protest demanding punishment for the culprits.

Veteran women leaders Rama Das and Krishna Rakshit said that students, girls and women are not safe even in the capital of BJP-ruled Tripura.

"In the latest incident, a college girl was kidnapped from the capital city in broad daylight and then gang-raped by four men inside a car. The police are yet to arrest the culprits even after three days of the heinous crime," said Das, a CPI-M central committee member.