Accused in Kolkata rape case declared proclaimed offender

Kader Khan, main accused in the alleged rape of a 37-year-old woman here on February 6, has been declared a proclaimed offender by a local court on a plea by the city police.

Khan has been absconding since the incident occurred.

He has been asked to surrender before the court in 30 days time. If he fails to do so, the police can take further action, including attaching his property, a senior police official told

The Hindu .

The police would release his photograph in newspapers, seeking information from the public about his whereabouts.

The victim, a mother of two, was allegedly raped at gunpoint in a moving car, after having been offered a lift. The accused persons had introduced themselves to the victim under assumed names.

However, using the footage obtained from closed-circuit cameras at the parking lot and at the entrance of the night club on Park Street, the police located the car and arrested three persons on February 18.

The victim recognised all the three accused — Ruman Khan, Naseer Khan and Sumit Bajaj — in a test identification parade.

Even as investigations were on, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told journalists that the incident had been “staged” to malign the government.