Veteran singer Sanjay Chakraborty arrested for molesting minor student
Prominent singer and composer, Sanjay Chakraborty, was arrested by Kolkata Police on charges of molesting a minor student. The arrest was made in Mumbai, where Chakraborty had been evading authorities for over two months. He now faces charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Here is how things unfolded.
Chakraborty was remanded to police custody following court appearance
After his arrest, Chakraborty, who is in his 50s, was produced before the Alipore Court on Wednesday. The court sent him to police custody till next Monday, November 18. Notably, the singer and composer is the younger brother of acclaimed musician and Padma Bhushan awardee Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty. Chakraborty is also the uncle of popular Indian classical singer Kaushiki Chakraborty (Ajoy's daughter).
The alleged incident took place last June after his class
The alleged molestation incident involving Chakraborty took place last June at a yoga institute near a high school where the senior singer held singing classes. Reportedly, the victim, a 15-year-old girl, was molested by Chakraborty after his class. He allegedly waited for the class to end and others to leave before touching the girl's private parts, leaving her severely traumatized.
Victim's trauma led to revelation of alleged incident
The teenager was severely traumatized by the incident and had to be treated in Bengaluru. During her treatment, she revealed the incident to her doctor for the first time. In September, her parents got to know of the incident and sent a complaint through email to Belgharia Police Station in North 24 Parganas district.
Chakraborty evaded police investigation
After the complaint, a zero FIR was filed and transferred to Charu Market Police Station in Kolkata for investigation. An FIR was later registered against Chakraborty under the POCSO Act. "The accused was given several notices to appear before the investigating officer to be questioned in connection with the case. But he neither appeared at the police station nor cooperated with the investigation," a police source said.
Kolkata Police finally nabbed fugitive Chakraborty in Mumbai
Police conducted several raids in search of Chakraborty. Eventually, Kolkata Police got a tip-off about his whereabouts and tracked him down. A police source told India Today TV, "Once he was spotted in Mumbai, our team reached there and nabbed him red-handed from a flat where he was hiding for a long time."
TMC leader questioned silence of top Bengali singers
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Kunal Ghosh took to X to question popular Bengali singers like Arijit Singh and Shreya Ghoshal's silence on the issue, since they spoke out after the horrific RG Kar rape and murder. "Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty's brother Sanjay Chakraborty was arrested from another singer's flat in Mumbai...Arijit, Abhijit, Shreya from Mumbai, I hope all will make a statement on this...Are you selective revolutionaries?" he tweeted.
