Mirik: The smut scene spot?

Siliguri, July 7: An obscene video clip featuring a regional movie actress is doing the rounds in Siliguri and its suburbs.

The 28-year-old actress has complained to police that the scenes were shot by Rakesh Mitra in the name of the screen test for a Bengali movie and were then spread without her consent.

Mitra, who had produced and directed movies in Nepali and other languages, was arrested and produced in the additional chief judicial magistrate’s court here today. He was granted bail.

Sources said the actress, who resides on the outskirts of Siliguri, had been approached by Mitra who introduced himself as a film producer-cum-director.

“I have acted in a number of regional films and appeared in some video albums. I was planning to venture into Bengali movies when Mitra approached me with an offer,” the actress said in her complaint with Pradhannagar police yesterday. “He told me that he was making a Bengali film and wanted to cast me in it.”

She accepted the offer and went to Mirik on a two-day trip for the screen test. “At a lodge there, Mitra said he would like to take some close-ups of mine on bed. The shots, he had said, would be used in the proposed film if I was selected,” said the actress. “I agreed to the proposal and posed semi-nude in front of the camera.”

Mitra took many shots and assured the actress that she would get a chance in the project.

“However, a few days ago, I came to know that one of the clips was circulating as an MMS among cellphone subscribers in Siliguri and the suburbs. I also saw the video and decided to file a complaint,” said the actress.

“I had never thought that the scenes would become public through MMS. I suspect that Mitra is the man behind the scandal and want police to take action against him,” she said in the complaint.

The director, who runs a production-cum-distribution company called Khushi in Siliguri, has worked for several Rajbanshi movies and video albums.

He met the actress during the launch of a Nepali music album at Savin Kingdom, an entertainment park near Siliguri, on April 23 and invited her to be a part of his new venture. The duo went to Mirik in the first week of June.

The clip, the sources said, is one-and-a-half-minute long and is named “sexy .... (the name of the actress”.

Mitra, who had been picked up by the police from his house at Iskcon Mandir Road last night, has been charged under sections 293 (sale of obscene objects to young person), 417 (cheating) and 419 (cheating by personation) of the IPC and Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.

Swapan Ghosh, the inspector-in-charge of the Pradhannagar police station, said an investigation had started. The police said during interrogation, Mitra had denied sending the MMS.

“Mitra told us that he had given the video to some person for processing and he had given it a name before circulating it through cellphones. We are looking into that aspect also,” said an officer.