A 50-year-old woman suffered severe burn injuries after a 35-year-old man allegedly threw acid on her face late on Tuesday night in Alipurduar.
The incident occurred on BG Road under ward No. 17 of the Alipurduar municipality.
According to police sources, the accused, identified as Indrajit Mukherjee, 35, originally from Barrackpore in North 24-Parganas, had been living in Alipurduar for the past few years.
He drives an e-rickshaw.
The middle-aged woman was returning home around 11pm after closing her shop when Mukherjee suddenly hurled acid at her.
Hearing her screams, local residents rushed to the spot, caught the accused as he tried to flee, and rushed the injured woman to the Alipurduar district hospital, where she has been admitted to the burns ward.
An eyewitness said: “We were closing our shops when we heard her scream. We ran and saw her face bleeding badly. We took her to the hospital immediately.”
Police arrived soon after and took the accused into custody.
He was produced before the chief judicial magistrate’s court, Alipurduar, on Wednesday afternoon.
The court remanded the accused to six-day police custody.
The motive behind the brutal attack is not clear.
Alipurduar superintendent of police Y. Raghuvamshi said: “We have arrested the accused and produced him in court. Investigation is on to ascertain the exact motive behind the attack.”
The acid attack has sparked panic among residents of the area, especially parents of girls who return home late from tuition classes.