Murshidabad, 03 January (H.S.): A serious allegation has emerged from Farakka area of Murshidabad district in West Bengal, where a woman was allegedly lured under the pretext of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and subjected to an attempted rape. The Police have arrested a BJP panchayat member in connection with the case.

According to police sources, the arrested BJP leader has been identified as Dipankar Das (32). He is an elected BJP member of the Nayansukh Gram Panchayat and a resident of the Hazarapur area of Farakka.

Allegedly, on Friday afternoon, Dipankar Das called the woman and informed her that a house had been sanctioned in her name under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Using this as a pretext, he asked for her Aadhaar card and bank account details and summoned her to his lodge in Hazarapur village, Farakka.

According to the woman, after arriving at the lodge, Dipankar asked her to go to the upper floor. As soon as she entered the lodge, Dipankar lowered and locked the main gate shutter. When the woman asked why he had closed the shutter, the accused allegedly covered her mouth and forcibly dragged her into a room. He then attempted to rape her in that room.

The woman stated in her complaint that she tried to scream loudly to save herself, but the accused covered her mouth and threatened to kill her. She somehow managed to escape and then filed a written complaint at Farakka police station.

In her complaint, the victim stated: “A Gram Panchayat member asked me to bring my Aadhaar card. Taking advantage of my helplessness and innocence, he locked me in a room and attempted to rape me against my will. I am completely broken physically and mentally by this incident and am extremely frightened.”

Based on the woman's complaint, Farakka police arrested the accused, Dipankar Das, on Friday. He was produced before the Jangipur Sub-Divisional Court on Saturday morning. The police have initiated an investigation into the matter.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey