Charges of molestation and corruption against Monojit Mishra, the main accused in Wednesday evening’s alleged gang rape of a South Calcutta Law College student, tumbled out as students returned to the institution on Monday.

A second-year woman student said Mishra had, during a picnic at Budge Budge in October 2023, inappropriately touched one of her female batch-mates in a room and later, a senior woman student in an auto-rickshaw.

She said her batch-mate wanted to lodge a complaint but was deterred when Mishra — a former Trinamool student leader with connections to several senior politicians — threatened her and said she would not be able to produce any witnesses.

She alleged that Mishra had asked several women students to accompany him to his flat, where he lived alone.

Many students had gathered in front of the college in Kasba on Monday, only to find the institution had been closed for an indefinite period.

A male student, enrolled in the second year, said Mishra had asked him to find students willing to pay for unauthorised admission to the college.

Eleven criminal cases are registered with Kolkata Police against Mishra. Among the alleged offences are molestation – including the tearing of a woman student’s clothes inside the college in July 2019 and an assault on a woman in Kasba in 2022 — apart from theft, battery and vandalism.

Mishra, 31, an ex-student and a casual employee of the college, has been arrested on gang-rape and other charges along with his alleged associates Pramit Mukherjee, 20, and Zaib Ahmed, 19, both students of the college

Mishra had allegedly assaulted the woman inside the students’ union room and then raped her in the security guard’s room while Mukherjee and Ahmed watched. The security guard, Pinaki Banerjee, 55, has been arrested, too.

On Monday evening, the director of public instruction sent an email to vice-principal Nayna Chatterji asking her to sack Mishra and rusticate Mukhopadhyay and Ahmed.

Mishra had been hired last September, apparently on a recommendation from the college’s governing body, headed by a Trinamool MLA.

The email also asked Chatterji to issue a show-cause notice to the agency that supplied security guards to the college and restrict the entry of outsiders, an official of the higher education department said.

“The decision was taken on the advice of the education minister. The college has been asked to hold a governing body meeting on Tuesday,” the official said.

Calls and text messages to Chatterji failed to bring any response.

The second-year student who recalled the horror of the picnic in Budge Budge, South 24-Parganas, said Mishra had targeted her too.

“During the picnic, Mishra wanted me and my friend to come to a room and have a party of sorts. I avoided going as my seniors had alerted me about him,” she said.

“But my friend went with him. She later told me that Mishra had touched her inappropriately. She was feeling uncomfortable. But she did not dare lodge any complaint against him.”

She alleged: “Mishra told her that if she went ahead with the complaint, she might struggle to substantiate the allegation for want of witnesses.”

The student said that while returning to the railway station in an auto at the end of the picnic, Mishra had stopped the three-wheeler midway and sat on the lap of a senior woman student.

“He could behave in this fashion. I remember him telling women students to accompany him to his flat and spend time with him there,” she said.

A student who stood beside her said that in August 2023, Mishra had told him to get him candidates willing to buy a seat in the college.

“He told me he could ensure admission if the student was willing to pay ₹50,000. I later learnt that he charged ₹1 lakh to ₹2 lakh to secure admission illegally,” the student said.

South Calcutta Law College at 57, K.N.Sen Road, Kolkata - 42 on Monday afternoon. The Telegraph picture by Bishwarup Dutta

Police sources said Mishra had been arrested thrice before the June 25 incident.

“He was arrested by Kalighat police in April 2017 and August 2017 on charges of causing grievous hurt, wrongful confinement and mischief,” a senior officer at Lalbazar said.

“He was arrested this year by Kasba police on charges of damaging the law college’s property.”

The Telegraph had reported on Monday how Mishra continued to wield power in the college even after completing his course in 2022.

College sources said he was close to several senior Trinamool leaders of south Calcutta and flaunted his pictures with them on social media.

Mishra had posted on his Facebook account that he had been “in a relationship since 28 February 2018” and was “cool and open-minded”.