The arrested classmate of the MBBS student who was gang-raped near the campus of her private medical college in Durgapur was on Wednesday remanded in seven days’ police custody.

“He (Wasef Ali) was produced before the additional chief judicial magistrate’s court in Durgapur on Wednesday.... During custody, we will try to find out how he was connected with the incident,” said a police officer in Durgapur.

Ali, a resident of Malda, is the only person named in the FIR filed by the gang-rape survivor’s father.

“After reconstructing the incident, Ali’s role became clearer. We found several discrepancies between what he told hospital authorities and what emerged during the investigation,” the officer added.

Police sources said there were several contradictions between Ali’s statements and those of the five others arrested on the charge of gang-raping the student from Odisha.

“Ali was arrested after the survivor gave her statement before the judicial magistrate. She made it clear that her friend had some role behind the crime,” said a police source.

According to the police, Ali failed to give clear answers to several questions.

First, where did he take the girl for dinner? The police said there were no restaurants in the vicinity of the college and the stretch of road from where the girl was allegedly abducted by five youths.

“He (Ali) failed to name the place where they went to dine. So why did he take a woman to a deserted road at night?” said an officer.

Second, Ali claimed he fled in panic after the girl was abducted by the five goons and later returned to rescue her.

“Usually in such situations, a friend immediately alerts the college authorities, the police or other friends. There were security guards on the campus. Why didn’t he inform them?” the officer asked.

Third, Ali claimed that he took the bloodied girl straight to hospital. However, CCTV footage reportedly showed that the two first returned to the hostel. “Why did he lie?” another officer asked.

Durgapur-Asansol police commissioner Sunil Kumar Choudhary had on Tuesday said it appeared that one person had committed “sexual and physical assault”, without disclosing his identity. A police source said the perpetrator can be identified only after the medico-legal tests of all six arrested persons, including Ali.

The police have already seized the clothes that Ali was wearing on October 10, the night of the incident. All the accused will appear for a test identification (TI) parade before the survivor.

The girl’s father iterated that he wanted to take his daughter back to Odisha.

“I had sent my daughter to Bengal with the dream of making her a doctor. I don’t want any other girl to become a victim like my daughter. I will now take her back to Odisha. We will never return to Bengal,” he said.

“If I have said anything wrong about the chief minister, I apologise. I have only one plea — that those who tortured my daughter be punished so that she gets justice,” he added, demanding a CBI probe.

Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari claimed the police were trying to shield the real culprits by arresting the girl’s classmate.

“The police commissioner has already termed the incident rape instead of gang rape. Now, the police are trying to save (the others) by arresting her male friend, who may also be involved,” Adhikari said.

Balasore BJP MP Pratap Sarangi, who visited Durgapur on Wednesday, met governor C.V. Ananda Bose and urged him to intervene.

“The governor said he has already written to the Union home minister requesting a CBI probe,” Sarangi said.

Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the family had expressed faith in the chief minister and the ongoing probe.

“Everyone knows what kind of narrative was being pushed after the incident. The arrest shows there was indeed some role of the friend. We have full faith in the police investigation,” Ghosh said.