Calcutta, May 30: A 65-year-old doctor has been arrested in north Calcutta’s Bangur for allegedly molesting a college student who went to him with a sore throat.

The complaint was lodged on May 19 but police said they took time to ascertain its veracity. ENT specialist Chandan Chakraborty was picked up from his apartment on Bangur Avenue last night and a court today sent him to four days’ jail custody.

He has been charged with outraging the modesty of a woman (Section 354 of the IPC) and sexual harassment (Section 354A) and could face up to five years’ jail if proved guilty.

According to the woman, an English honours student, the doctor harassed her after he realised that she had come to his chamber alone. She is said to have run away from the chamber after realising that the doctor was abusing her.

She went home and broke down before her mother. Her father accompanied her to Lake Town police station on May 20 to lodge a complaint against the doctor.

The police did not ask for Chakraborty’s custody today. “The Supreme Court has clearly said that a girl’s statement is enough to press charges against an accused in a case like this as a girl would never harm her reputation by bringing false allegations. The student has recorded her statement before a magistrate. So we did not require police custody but only opposed the doctor’s bail plea,” said Sabir Ali, the assistant public prosecutor.

Chakraborty, who is attached to a premiere hospital off EM Bypass and several other private health-care facilities, has a chamber on the ground floor of the Bangur Avenue building where he lives.

His website claims he is “one of the most sought after ENT consultants in Kolkata” and “has been constantly consulting to celebrities and high-profile patients from music and entertainment industry”.

It also says he is an “eminent cancer surgeon of the town” and is also associated with social work.

An officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate said the police were checking the antecedents of the doctor and that was the reason for the delayed arrest.

Outside Salt Lake court, where his lawyer appealed for bail, relatives and neighbours of Chakraborty demonstrated demanding his immediate release. “I have been working with him for many years and have never heard of any such complaint,” said the lady who handles appointments at his Bangur Avenue chamber.