Cricketer Abhishek Porel arrested on 'rape' charges

Bengal cricketer Abhishek Porel, who has played for Delhi Capitals in the IPL, was arrested by the Hooghly police late Monday night following a complaint by a medical student alleging that he had sexual relations with her on the promise of marriage.

Porel was arrested by Mogra police and is likely to be produced before a court in Chinsurah on Tuesday.

“There was a case lodged against him and a court order to arrest him. He was arrested late last night. He will be produced in court today,” Hooghly (Rural) Superintendent of Police Kunwar Bhushan Singh told PTI.

The arrest came after the Calcutta High Court directed the police on July 20 to arrest Porel in connection with the case. The court also ordered the seizure of his electronic devices to prevent the dissemination of photographs of the complainant.

Police have registered a case against Porel under Section 69 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Sections 311 and 318 and other provisions of the BNS, as well as Sections 66 and 72 of the Information Technology Act, police sources said.

The complainant, a medical student from Karnataka, lodged a complaint against Porel at Mogra police station on June 23. She alleged that the two had been in a relationship for around three-and-a-half years and had planned to marry.

The woman also alleged that they had travelled abroad together, but Porel later denied their relationship, prompting her to approach the police.

According to her complaint, the two had a dispute around a year-and-a-half ago, which escalated to the police station. However, no complaint was filed at the time.

Following her complaint in June, police launched an investigation and visited Porel’s residence in Chandannagar several times but could not locate him.

The woman subsequently approached the Calcutta High Court, which directed the police to arrest Porel on July 20. The proceedings also involved allegations of criminal intimidation and other offences.

Porel had earlier denied the allegations.

A response from Porel and his family to his arrest was awaited.