Police have arrested a private cab driver who allegedly raped and robbed a 26-year-old woman in a moving car in the wee hours of Friday.

The victim, 26-year-old housewife Ruchita Sarkar (name changed) was returning home from SSKM Hospital after visiting her hospitalized husband Thursday night.

According to the police, Sarkar boarded a commercial shuttle taxi at around 11:30 p.m from Exide crossing in central Kolkata but the driver took a different route and took her towards Park Circus.

The accused driver, identified as Mumtaz Khan, 40, drove to a deserted location and picked up another friend of his, named Habib Rahman and asked him to drive claiming illness.

"Travelling to Moulali, he crossed Philips more and stopped near Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital in Park Circus to pick his friend Habib Rahman, 20, another cabbie," Deccan Chronicle quoted a senior officer of the Entally police station as saying.

 After a while, Mumtaz changed the seat and asked Habib to drive claiming illness," the official said.

The woman said that the driver allegedly drove to an isolated place near Nicco Park which is near the city's main IT hub; Mumtaz raped her in the rear seat of the moving car while Habib was driving and looted about Rs. 3,000 cash and snatched her gold ornaments.

Mumtaz was later tracked and arrested within six hours of the complaint from Beck Bagan area with the help of Habib, who the victim claims was innocent and indeed tried to rescue her, according to reports.

The woman was reportedly dropped near Sealdah around 3.30 pm, after which she lodged a complaint at Entally police station.

Apparently, the victim had managed to note down the number of the private cab, which helped the police track him the same day. The vehicle, a white Maruti Swift Dzire WB04F 2892, was confiscated by the police on Friday early morning.

The medical reports of the victim confirmed that she was raped.