Cricketer Abishek Porel, who plays for the Bengal cricket team and Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League (IPL), was arrested in connection with a criminal case registered on the complaint of a medical student alleging rape, criminal intimidation and other serious offences, the police said on Tuesday.
The Bengal cricketer was arrested by the Hooghly district police from Emami City under the Dum Dum police station, according to Hooghly Rural police SP Kunwar Bhushan Singh.
Earlier in June, the victim lodged a police complaint alleging that he engaged in a sexual relationship under the false promise of marriage and subjected her to assault and criminal intimidation.
A case has been registered against Porel under Section 69 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deals with sexual intercourse obtained through a false promise of marriage, along with provisions of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000.
"In connection with Mogra PS Case No. 346/26, registered under Sections of BNS and Sections 66E/72 of the IT Act, the prime accused, namely Abishek Porel (Cricketer), has been arrested from Emami City under Dum Dum Police Station in connection with the aforesaid case alleging that he cohabited with a woman on the promise of marriage," said a senior police officer.
A young medical student from Karnataka had filed a complaint against Abishek at the Mogra police station in Hooghly on June 23. The woman alleged that Abhishek had been in a relationship with her for three and a half years. They had decided to get married. They had even gone abroad together. But a year and a half ago, they had problems. The matter had escalated to the police station. But no complaint was filed at that time.
This time, the young woman filed a complaint. However, Abishek had denied all the allegations against him at that time.
After several days of filing the complaint, the woman approached the Calcutta High Court after the police failed to take any action. The High Court ordered that Abishek be arrested. Thereafter, the police took action.
In an order dated July 14, Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya directed police to continue efforts to apprehend Porel and another accused. The court also ordered the seizure of electronic devices in order to prevent the dissemination of alleged private material linked to the complainant.
On Tuesday, the police arrested him.
Later in the day, Abishek Porel was produced at the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court in Hooghly's Chinsurah. His lawyers applied for his bail. However, the court rejected his bail application and sent Porel to police custody for three days.
Porel has been a prominent figure in Bengal cricket and has represented Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League. A left-handed wicketkeeper-batter, he made his first-class debut for Bengal during the 2021-22 season and later earned India A call-ups. He joined the Delhi Capitals in 2023 and has been part of the franchise since then.
