Kolkata, Oct 13: West Bengal Police on Monday arrested the fifth accused in the Durgapur gang-rape case, taking the total number of arrests to five, officials said.

The accused has been identified as Sheikh Safiqul, a local resident, who was nabbed from Durgapur.

According to the police, Safiqul had been hiding at a relative’s house in the area. He and Sheikh Nasiruddin, who was arrested on Sunday night, will be produced before the Durgapur Sub-Divisional Court later in the day, where police will seek their custody.

Earlier on Sunday, three other accused -- Sheikh Reajuddin, Firdos Sheikh, and Apu Bauri -- were arrested and remanded in 10-day police custody. One more accused was later arrested.

With all five named accused now in custody, investigators plan to interrogate them together and conduct a crime scene reconstruction in the forested area near the private medical college and hospital where the incident took place.

Police said DNA tests will be conducted on all the accused, and arrangements are being made for the same.

The case was registered based on a complaint lodged by a second-year medical student from Odisha, who was allegedly gang-raped on Friday night outside her college campus in Durgapur.

According to the complaint, the student had gone out for dinner with a male friend when a group of men on motorcycles accosted them and passed lewd remarks.

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The men allegedly chased away the friend, dragged the student into a nearby forested area, and gang-raped her. They also snatched her mobile phone and threw it away before fleeing.

The student’s friend later returned to the spot with other students and found her lying injured. She was rushed to a local hospital, where she is undergoing treatment.

Police said the male friend remains under detention and is being questioned to verify his statements and establish the sequence of events.

(IANS)

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