Five persons have been arrested in connection with a rape complaint lodged by a 23-year-old Japanese woman, who had visited the city on November 23, last year, police said on Friday.

The woman was allegedly trapped by a group of tour guides, who took her to Digha in East Midnapore and later to Bodhgaya in Bihar where she was gangraped.

The victim had returned to Kolkata and lodged a complaint with the police at the end of November. In her complaint, she had alleged that she was molested in Digha where her credit and debit cards were also snatched. Following this, she was taken to Bodhgaya where she was gangraped by the group.

Joint CP (Crime) Pallab Kanti Ghosh said that among the five arrested — three were picked up from Kolkata and two from Bodhgaya.

“There was a racket of tour guides proficient in Japanese. They can speak and write Japanese. This group targets Japanese tourists and trap women. They snatch their cards and money. Some of these guides have also married Japanese women,” said Ghosh.

“A month ago, the Japanese consulate lodged a complaint with the Kolkata Police commissioner and we started investigating the matter. In November, we received a specific complaint from a 23-year-old. While probing the complaint, we traced the racket,” he added.

The consulate reportedly told the police that they have received several complaints of Japanese tourists being looted and sexually assaulted. Following a complaint lodged by the Consulate, a special team was formed, including the woman grievance cell and bank fraud cell of the detective department.

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