Chingrighata: A woman's screams after being groped on a crowded bus were ignored by all co-passengers except a college student who got off and alerted police, leading to the arrest of the accused.

The woman later told Metro that one of the passengers shouted out " Ekhon bus thamiye esab natak dekhey somoy nosto kortey hobe naki (Do we have to waste time on this drama now)?" after the student returned with two cops.

The accused has been identified as Amit Baran Das, 52, a resident of Jadavpur and manager of a pharmaceutical company in Calcutta.

The 26-year-old complainant, a clinical psychologist, said she had boarded a bus on the Paikpara-Garia route at Ultadanga station.

The accused boarded the bus minutes later, at the Hudco crossing.

The man sat beside her, put earphones on and started inching towards her as soon as the bus started moving, the woman said.

"A few stops later he almost pinned me against the window to my right. After some time, he touched me inappropriately. I thought it was accidental. But he kept touching me and I was convinced that he was groping me. I told him to sit properly but he pretended that he could not hear me.... I started screaming when he stroked my left thigh and I felt that his hand was moving up. The bus had been packed by then but none of the passengers stood by me," the woman said.

She then asked the conductor to stop the bus but he shot back: " Bhir bus-e esab hotei pare. Aami er jonyo bus thamabo na (These things can happen on a crowded bus. I won't stop the bus for this)".

"My tormentor broke into a smile hearing the conductor's response. I felt like puking," the woman recounted.

While the bus was approaching the Chingrighata crossing on the Bypass, a college student stood up and said he would alert the cops there. The accused sensed trouble and started pleading innocence. He even told the woman that he was ready to apologise.

"I was shaking in rage but couldn't say anything," the woman said.

The student got off the bus when it stopped at the crossing and returned moments later with a traffic sergeant and a constable.

"I broke down and narrated the ordeal to them. They dragged the man off the bus and asked me to accompany them," the woman said.

Das was taken to the Beleghata traffic guard's office. The cops there alerted Bidhannagar South police station (the Chingrighata crossing is under its jurisdiction), which sent a team to the traffic guard office.

Das and the woman were taken to the police station. The accused was arrested after the woman had lodged an FIR.

"We arrested the man as soon as we came to know what had happened on the bus," said Amit P. Javalgi, deputy commissioner, headquarters, Bidhannagar commissionerate.

Das has been charged under several IPC sections, including 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 354A (sexual harassment). If convicted, he can be jailed for five years.

Sayantani Chakraborty, the lawyer representing the complainant, said Das had been remanded in judicial custody till May 28.