Kolkata, April 12 : Calcutta High court on Tuesday directed senior IPS officer Damayanti Sen to probe four rape cases in Matia and De Ganga in North 24 Parganas, English Bazar in Malda and Bansdroni in south Kolkata. The division bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava and Rajarshi Bhardwaj while expressing shock and grave concern over the increasing cases of gangrapes and murders across West Bengal, asked Kolkata Police Special Commissioner Damayanti Sen to probe the four rape cases. The bench, however, opined that if the IPS officer was not interested or not willing to take up the matter, she was free to inform this court. The next hearing is scheduled for April 20, a court source said. The 1996-batch of IPS officer, Damayanti Sen, came into fame when she cracked a gang rape in 2012 and convicted all three three accused in the infamouse case at Park Street in the city. In February 2012, a 37-year-old woman had alleged that she had been gang-raped inside a moving car on Park Street, the hub of teh city. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, however, had termed the incident “sajano ghatana (fabricated incident)” but the IPS officer had proceeded with her probe and all the three men arrested were convicted in the infamous and controversial crime.Within two months of the incident, Sen was shifted from the Calcutta police to the comparatively less important post of deputy inspector general of police (training) in Barrackpore. Thereafter, she was sent to Darjeeling and then to the state CID as deputy inspector general. She was back in the city police in 2019. The division bench while directing Damayanti Sen to probe the four gangrape cases, also opined that the IPS officer had been fair and independent while discharging her duty. Expressing concern over the increasing cases of gangrapes, the bench said the four cases happened recently and asked why these were happening? ” What is happening, why are these taking place? I am speechless” the chief justice said. PC SJC BM