Police have arrested the friend of the medical student who was allegedly raped near a private medical college in Durgapur, bringing the total number of arrests in the case to six.

According to reports, the woman, a second-year MBBS student from Odisha, was studying at IQ City Medical College in Durgapur’s Shivapur area. On October 10, she and her friend had gone off campus when they were allegedly stopped by a group of people. Police said the woman was later taken to a forested area and raped.

In his complaint to the police, the survivor’s father said that his daughter’s friend had misled her and taken her to a deserted place under false pretexts. Following this, police began investigating his role in the incident.

Earlier, Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissioner Sunil Kumar Choudhary said that five people had been arrested, and their presence at the crime scene had been confirmed through evidence. The mobile phone taken from the survivor was also recovered, he added.

Before the friend’s arrest, Choudhary had hinted that investigators were closely examining his role. “The friend of the woman, who was also present at the place of occurrence... his role is also not beyond doubt. We are investigating his role also. We have examined him several times... His examination is going on. I want to say his role is also not beyond doubt,” the Commissioner said.

He further stated, “Till now, as per the technical and scientific evidence collected and the statement of the woman, we have found that physical sexual assault has been committed by one accused. The involvement of all five accused is being investigated.”

Later in the evening, police confirmed that the friend had been arrested. Officials said the two had stepped out for dinner that night before the incident.

“The friend had been taken to the scene of the crime and interrogated several times before he was arrested,” a police official said.