Kolkata, Sep 8 (IANS): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday appreciated Nilanjana Chatterjee, the lady who tried to rescue a woman screaming for help on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass on Saturday night and got hit by the offending vehicle, for her act of bravery.
"The state government will bear all the medical expenses of Nilanjana Chatterjee. We highly appreciate her gesture in rescuing our sister that night. I have told Kolkata Police commissioner Anuj Sharma to provide all kinds of assistance to her family and track down the perpetrator immediately," Banerjee said.
The prime accused, Abhishek Pandey, has been on the run for more than two days now. The Kolkata Police have already identified the offending vehicle and have also interrogated Pandey's mother at the city police headquarters on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Anuj Sharma on Tuesday spoke to Chatterjee over phone and assured her of every possible assistance from the police administration.
According to police sources, Pandey had befriended the lady with a fake identity for almost a year and they became friends over the phone. As their relationship developed, the lady went to meet him on Saturday night and they went out in a car.
The alleged molestation took place in the heart of the city when Nilanjana Chatterjee, a resident of south Kolkata's Anandapur area, was returning home with her husband Deep Satpathy in their car.
She heard a woman sitting in a Honda City car behind them screaming for help. Chatterjee immediately got out of her vehicle and rushed towards the Honda City car.
Its driver pushed the woman out of the car and tried to speed away. The car hit Nilanjana who suffered a shin bone fracture. She was admitted to a nearby private hospital where she underwent a surgery on Monday.
Police sources said that Pandey also deleted the WhatsApp chat history with the woman and threw her cellphone after the incident.
The police had arrested Amitabha Basu, the driver of the offending vehicle, on Sunday afternoon. The woman who was allegedly molested in the car also registered a complaint with the Anandapur police station.