A 30-year-old costume designer was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly molesting and harassing an upcoming model.

According to a complaint lodged by the model at Gariahat police station on Tuesday afternoon, Rajarshi Das, who works in television serials, molested her in his Ballygunge Station Road office a month ago.

The model, in her early 20s, said in the complaint that Das had last called her around 10.30 pm on December 17 and made an “indecent proposal”.

The model, a resident of Lake Town, alleged: “Das said if I did not accept his proposal, he would make things difficult for me and do everything in his power to ruin my career.”

Das had been calling her almost daily and making “abominable” proposals in “vulgar, abusive language”, she added.

“Acting on the complaint, we have arrested the man and launched a probe,” said deputy commissioner of police (south) Ajay Kumar.

The model had visited Das’s office to discuss an assignment. But Das “behaved lecherously” and “molested” her, she said in the complaint. He had also tried to blackmail her, alleged the model.

“Das said he would go public with some of my video footage unless I agreed to his indecent proposals,” said the model. She did not specify what video footage Das had allegedly threatened her with. “If he possessed any footage that could put me in trouble, he would have used it by now,” she argued.