Sixth arrest made in Japanese gang rape case

Kolkata: A sixth person, working as a cleaner with the Indian Museum here, was arrested on Tuesday in the Japanese tourist gang rape case, a senior Kolkata Police official said.

Mohammed Wasim was arrested by the detective department of Kolkata Police early this morning in connection with the case, Special Commissioner (Crime) of Kolkata Police, Pallab Kanti Ghosh said here.

This is the sixth arrest in the case. Earlier five persons, including two from Bihar's Gaya district, were arrested by the Kolkata police.

First to be arrested after the woman filed a complaint with the police on December 26 was Wasim Khan, who was picked up from the city, Ghosh said while giving the details.

Wasim, who spoke Japanese fluently, allegedly befriended the Japanese woman on November 20 and accompanied her to Gaya.

In Gaya, Wasim allegedly molested her and took away Rs 76,000 from her bank account before handing her over to siblings Javed Khan and Sajid Khan, who raped her repeatedly since November 26 to the end of December, Ghosh said.

Later, they put the girl in a bus bound for Varanasi, where she got in touch with her friends and contacted the Japanese consulate in Kolkata, according to Ghosh.

Based on the information gathered from Wasim, a joint team of Kolkata Police and Gaya Police arrested the brother duo from Taro village under Fathepur police station in Gaya district on January 2 and brought them to Kolkata on a transit remand.

On January 3, a city court remanded the two to judicial custody till January 9.

Two more persons Md Sabbir Khan and Shahid Iqbal were also arrested by the police based on the information given by the brother duo.