Criminal case against Bengal minister Bratya Basu; Formal charges drawn up after HC push
Telegraph | 7 March 2025
A criminal case has been lodged against education minister Bratya Basu and others based on a complaint lodged by Jadavpur University student Indranuj Roy, who was allegedly hit by the minister’s car during unrest on the campus on March 1.
The formal charges were drawn up by Kolkata Police on Wednesday following a Calcutta High Court push to treat a complaint emailed by the hospitalised student, which was lying unattended so far, as an FIR.
A case has been started at Jadavpur police station under sections of attempt to murder, outrage of modesty, criminal intimidation by threatening to cause death and shared intention (in committing a crime) and joint criminal liability - against minister Basu, professor Om Prakash Mishra, Basu’s driver and others.
In his complaint, Indranuj alleged that he and some other students were carrying out a peaceful protest on the campus on Saturday when they were threatened by some “TMC goons”.
Later that day, around 4pm, when the minister went to the campus and the students demanded a meeting with him to discuss the pending student elections, Basu first agreed but then refused to hold the meeting, Indranuj has said.
It was then that Indranuj and the other students formed a human chain around the minister’s car to prevent him from leaving, he wrote.
“The minister ordered his driver to start the car and leave the campus. Although initially the speed was slow, the car ultimately drove past us with the intention to kill us. Most of the students jumped out of the car’s way to save their lives. I was hit by the car. The car ran over a part of my body,” Indranuj has complained to the police.
Indranuj’s father Amit Roy said he was thankful to the judiciary for its intervention, forcing the police to treat his son’s email to Jadavpur police station as an FIR.
“Treating the complaint as an FIR was a democratic right. The court ensured that right. This is a democratic way to fight,” said Roy.
He said the entire focus so far was on what the students had allegedly done. “But the police were not listening to what the students had to say. The court has forced the police to take cognisance of what the students had to say,” he said.
Students who have been accused of fighting their case in an undemocratic way so far, now have a chance to fight their case democratically, he said.
No senior police officer commented on the delay in registering a case based on Indranuj’s complaint or the next course of action.
Following the violence at Jadavpur University, Kolkata Police drew up seven FIRs and started two suo motu cases.
Two of the cases were against “unknown students of Jadavpur University,” while four were against named persons, including students and former students.
Till now, a former student of the university has been arrested in connection with the arson on the campus, which is one of the seven cases.
The FIR against the minister is the eighth.
On Thursday, the police sent summons to several JU students in connection with the arson. They asked the students to be present before the investigating officer within seven days from receipt of the notice. The summons read: “...it is revealed that there are reasonable grounds to question you to ascertain facts and circumstances from you, in relation to the present investigation…”