Two absconding accused held in Greater Noida

GREATER NOIDA/KOLKATA: Two prime accused in the 2012 Park Street gang rape case in Kolkata were arrested from Greater Noida on Thursday.

Mohammad Kader Khan and Mohammad Ali Khan were nabbed from their rented residence at Alfa 2 locality in a late night joint operation by Kolkata and Noida police.

The two were among five persons who allegedly gang-raped Suzette Jordan, then 37 years old and a mother of two, on the night of February 5, 2012, after offering to drop her home from a night club in Kolkata’s posh Park Street.

Suzette had filed a complaint a few days after the incident. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had called it a “fabricated case”.

However, senior police officer Damayanti Sen pursued the case and identified the five accused, but was shunted out from her post.

Three of the five accused were later arrested and in December 2015, sentenced to 10-year rigorous imprisonment. Kader Khan and Ali Khan had been absconding till now.

They had escaped to Bangladesh and Nepal before coming to Greater Noida, Gautam Budh Nagar SSP Dharmendra Singh said quoting their confession.

“Kolkata police got leads after they made calls to their homes. Their numbers were traced to Greater Noida,” Singh said, adding that Kolkata police “approached us with probable locations”. The SSP also said the accused had used fake IDs to get a rented accommodation in Noida. “We will check who helped them get the IDs,” he said. Kolkata police have taken the accused on a transit remand after they were produced in a court here.

Suzette died due to multiple organ failure in March 2015.