india

Updated: Jun 19, 2019 00:47 IST

A former Miss India Universe, Ushoshi Sengupta, was attacked by a group of motorcycle-borne young men in the heart of south Kolkata late on Monday night while she and her colleague were returning home from a star hotel on Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in an Uber taxi.

After Sengupta wrote about her plight on social media on Tuesday afternoon, the post went viral and police sprang into action. By evening, Kolkata Police arrested Sheikh Imran Ali, Atif Khan, Sheikh Wasim, Sheikh Rahit, Sheikh Gani, Fardeen Khan and Shabir Ali.

Reacting to the arrests, Sengupta said on Tuesday night, “I want to know how these youths have become so fearless? I don’t want to be treated specially because of who I am. This can happen to anyone. This cannot be the Kolkata I have always known.”

The young men, none of whom were wearing helmets, first stopped the taxi at the busy Exide intersection around midnight and tried to drag Tarak, the driver, out of the vehicle after one of the motorcycles dashed against the car. Sengupta got out of the car and faced them. She even shot a video which she later shared on social media.

Sengupta has complained that when she ran to the Maidan police station located across the street, an officer she approached initially refused to come to the help of the cab driver saying the portion of the road where the incident was taking place is under the jurisdiction of the Bhawanipore police station. Eventually, he agreed to help Sengupta. On seeing the police the young men fled but followed the cab to Lake Gardens where Sengupta and her colleague live.

“When I was dropping my colleague they attacked the car and broke the windshield. They dragged me and tried to snatch the phone to delete the video. My colleague, a member of the LGBT community was scared and ran to safety. I started shouting for help and local people came out. The young men escaped,” said Sengupta.

She alleged that when she was went to lodge a complaint at the Charu Market Police station, which is in charge of the area where she lives, the officers asked her to go to Bhawanipore police station. However a complaint was finally registered.

Senior Kolkata Police officials did not comment on the incident but Sengupta said many of them got in touch with her. At 8 pm on Tuesday, Kolkata Police tweeted, “We have taken this incident very seriously and seven persons have been arrested so far. On the order of the police commissioner, an inquiry regarding the non-registration of FIR has been initiated into the incident at a very senior level.”