Bengal cricketer Abhishek Porel, who plays for Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League, was arrested by police in Hooghly district over allegations of rape, assault, and criminal intimidation. The arrest followed a complaint by a medical student alleging that Porel had sexual relations with her on the promise of marriage, an official said on Tuesday as quoted by PTI. The cricketer was arrested late on Monday after the police registered a case under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including Section 69, along with provisions of the Information Technology Act.
In the latest development, the Calcutta High Court has deferred the hearing until September 14. The state requested an adjournment before the bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya so that the police could proceed with the investigation. As per the news agency, another accused in the case, reportedly a friend of Porel, is yet to be apprehended.
A young medical student from Karnataka had lodged a complaint against Porel at Mogra police station on June 23, alleging that the two had been in a relationship for around three-and-a-half years and had planned to get married.
The woman also alleged that the two had travelled abroad together, but that Porel later denied their relationship, following which she approached the police.
According to the complaint, the two had a dispute around a year and a half ago, which escalated to the police station, but no complaint was filed at that time.
Following the June complaint, police launched an investigation, and teams visited Porel’s residence in Chandannagar several times but could not find him there.
The woman subsequently approached the Calcutta High Court, following which the court directed the police to arrest Porel on July 20. The court proceedings also involved allegations of criminal intimidation and other offences, besides the rape allegation.
Porel had earlier denied the allegations.
(With agency inputs)
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