Two of the accused in the Durgapur gang-rape case have filed a plea to confess their involvement in the October 10 incident. Sk Riyazuddin and Sk Safiq submitted the request to a local court on Sunday.

The complainant, a 23-year-old MBBS student from a private medical college in Durgapur, was allegedly gang-raped shortly after she and a classmate left campus for dinner on the evening of October 10. Riyazuddin, Safiq, and four other men, including the classmate, Wasef Ali, are currently in custody.

According to police officers involved in the investigation, if the court accepts the plea, Riyazuddin and Safiq may be treated as approvers during the trial. On Sunday, the court sent Riyazuddin and Safiq to jail custody for two days so they could consider their plea for confession. The two had been in police remand since their arrest. The court is expected to issue an order on October 21.

The appeal was filed under Section 183 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which outlines the procedure for a judicial magistrate to record confessions related to ongoing criminal investigations.

Riyazuddin previously worked as a guard at the medical college where the survivor studied until he was dismissed five years ago for indiscipline. Safiq was employed at a local factory.

In a detailed statement to the police and a magistrate, the survivor stated that one man pinned her down and raped her in a secluded, forested area while two others watched. Two other men, later identified by police as Riyazuddin and Safiq, arrived at the scene afterward. Instead of helping her, they allegedly summoned the rapists and demanded Rs 3,000 from the student. They took Rs 200 that the survivor had with her and also stole her cellphone. The other three accused are Nasiruddin Sk, Apu Bauri, and Firdaus Sk.

The survivor stated in her complaint that her classmate, Wasef Ali, molested her and fled while she was struggling to fend off the attackers. Ali was arrested Tuesday evening after the survivor told a judicial magistrate that he had molested her when they stepped out of the campus together on October 10. He has been remanded to seven days police custody. It remains unclear whether rape charges will be filed against him.

Earlier, police took the student, who had been detained for over 72 hours, to the crime spot to recreate the events, including his version of fleeing the scene and leaving the survivor behind.

The stolen cellphone has been recovered. Police visited the homes of Riyazuddin and a Durgapur municipal corporation contractual employee in Birja village, collecting the clothes they wore on October 10 for forensic examination.

According to sources, the survivor's statement was corroborated by medical examination, with doctors confirming that the injuries were consistent with sexual assault. The medical legal report, forensic (blood samples and DNA), and technical (call details) are still awaited.

Police have arrested all five accused persons in the case. According to police sources, one of the five arrested had confessed to the rape during interrogation, but police are awaiting the DNA test report for confirmation.