The court of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate at Alipore on Tuesday (July 8, 2025) remanded the four accused in the South Calcutta Law College rape case to 14 days of judicial custody till July 22. 

The four accused include ex-student and non-teaching staff Monojit Mishra (31), current students Pramit Mukhopadhyay (20) and Zaib Ahmed (19), and the security guard allegedly on duty during the crime, Pinaki Banerjee (55). 

They were charged with gang rape, wrongful confinement, kidnapping, causing grievous hurt with dangerous weapon etc. 

The survivor, in her police complaint dated June 26, had accused Mr Mishra of sexually and physically assaulting her in the guard’s room and the washroom within the college premises on June 25 evening, while Mr Ahmed and Mr Mukhopadhyay allegedly guarded the crime scene and filmed the act. 

She had also accused the security guard of vacating his room on the accused’s instructions and not helping the survivor despite being present. 

During the court proceedings on Tuesday (July 8, 2025), the lawyer representing Mr Mishra alleged that the accused was being pressured by the police to sign blank papers and questioned why the investigating officer did not obtain the survivor’s call data records. 

On the other hand, the public prosecutor said in open court that none of the culprits behind “the heinous crime” will be spared. He added that while medico-legal tests are complete, some of the forensic reports pertaining to biological samples are yet to be received. 

The lawyer representing Mr. Banerjee, the accused security personnel, questioned the role of and the action taken against the higher authorities of the college. 

Last week, the four accused had been taken back to the premises of the South Calcutta Law College to reconstruct the crime.  

Amid speculation over rift in the party, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dilip Ghosh on Tuesday met newly appointed West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattachrya at the party office in Salt Lake and vowed unity ahead of 2026 Assembly polls.

Speaking to mediapersons, Mr. Ghosh said he will follow the party’s instruction like any other worker. “He [Samik Bhattacharya] is a senior leader. I have a lot of respect for him. All the old BJP workers are with him,” the former State BJP president said.

The meeting assumes significance as Mr. Ghosh was absent at several party events, including the public meetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. It triggered speculations that Mr. Ghosh, the most “successful” BJP president in the State under whose leadership the BJP won 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in 2019, might join the TMC.

On Tuesday, Mr. Ghosh said he had given a slogan ‘Unishe Half, Ekushey Saaf (Half in 2019 and clean in 2021)’. “Though we could win almost half of the seats in 2019, we could not defeat TMC in 2021. We hope under the leadership of Mr. Bhattacharya, we will defeat TMC in 2026,” he said.

No misunderstanding

Mr. Bhattacharya who had described Mr. Ghosh as the “heart and soul” of the BJP, specified that not a single BJP worker should be left out in the fight against the Trinamool Congress in 2026. “There are no leaders in our party. We all are followers of the symbol of the BJP. There can be misunderstanding for the time being but there they are not out of the party,” Mr. Bhattacharya said.

The Jayanagar police on Monday arrested a 40-year-old goldsmith who allegedly cheated a city based jeweller of 8.3 kg of bullion which he had received to design and make gold valuables in April this year.

Based on a complaint, the police tracked down the accused, identified as Manish Kumar Soni, in Goa where he was holidaying with his wife. The police recovered 3.1 kg of valuables from his house in Hanumanthnagar and ₹8.5 lakh in cash from his friend’s house. The accused was about to flee from Goa when the police nabbed him.

The accused was working for the jewellery shop for the last four years and had incurred some loan. He decide to escape with the bullion, said the police.

The accused has allegedly confessed that he had sold the remaining gold to different people and efforts are on to recover it.