Kolkata, June 16 (IANS) The West Bengal Police personnel on Monday recovered the mobile phone of the victim in the porn racket case in the state from the residence of the three main accused persons located at Demur in Kolkata-adjacent Howrah district.
Shweta Khan is the prime accused in the case.
The other accused are her son Aryan Khan, and her daughter. Since the third accused is a minor, her case has been referred for processing under the Juvenile Justice Act and referred to the Juvenile Justice Board.
The main charges against the trio are holding a woman from the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal captive for six months and brutally assaulting her with an iron rod after she refused to participate in pornographic video shoots allegedly orchestrated by the three accused.
An insider from the state police said that the recovery of the mobile phone was made following raid and search operations at the Domjur residence of the three accused persons early Monday morning. Besides the mobile phone, a laptop and the CCTV camera installed within the residence have also been seized by the raiding officials.
The state police insiders said that the digital video recorder of the CCTV camera installed at the residence had been sent to forensic experts for investigation purposes.
The three accused in the case were arrested one after another on June 11 from different parts of the city by the investigating officials. The police action in the matter was intensified after the National Commission for Women (NCW) took suo motu cognizance of the incident and wrote to the West Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar, demanding immediate arrests under the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
The NCW also instructed the state police to ensure that the victim receives free medical treatment and psychological counselling. Additionally, the Commission has directed the DGP to submit a detailed action-taken report within three days.
Both Shweta and Aryan have denied charges against them. The prime accused Shweta also said that she had been framed in the matter and also said that her side of the story should also be heard.
She is currently in police custody.
West Bengal BJP President and Union Minister, Sukanta Majumdar, has alleged that Shweta Khan has close links with several senior leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress.
–IANS
src/pgh