They began with lewd comments and abuses. But suddenly, they ran their van into Rekha and dragged her for over 20 feet before driving off.

Her track suit torn, Rekha -- injured in head and back -- soon fell unconscious. And had it not been for her team-mates, she would have ended up dead just like the Raipur college student who was recently crushed under the vehicle of eve-teasers in Madhya Pradesh. Rekha is recovering at the B R Singh hospital.

The police have seized the Maruti van (WB02-A-2527) and arrested the owner. But no other arrests have been made. Home Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya, who faced a demonstration in front of his residence today, condemned the incident. ``I am personally inquiring into the case,'' he said. ``I have asked the policechief to send a senior official to Rekha and frame a case according to her statement''.

Rekha's friends, all of whom play for Eastern Railway, said they are now used to the ``bitter experience of eve-teasing'' that occurs almost everyday during practice. ``We thought that they would go away like they usually do after making some obscene remarks. We never thought that they would set the car on one of us.'' Another player and an eyewitness, S Dhirendra, said: ``The incident has shaken our confidence, even in the morning today we feared some retaliation from the group as we have moved the police.'' Rekha is still in shock. Speaking to this correspondent in hospital, she said, ``Yesterday, they became more aggressive and before my friends could come, I got my clothes torn. Then I was dragged by the car and soon fell unconscious... but now, if the police cannot punish these bad elements, they might retaliate when I go back to practice.''

The incident is likely to snowball into a major controversy. Veteran CPIleader and the party's deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Gita Mukherjee, said she will take up the matter with the city police personally. Having already visited Rekha in hospital early today, she admitted that crime against women had gone up.

``I request all political parties to join hands and sink their political differences to fight these criminals. For, the administration cannot fight them alone, they have to be fought socially and politically,'' she said.