Police yet to act on minister FIR; SFI raise questions, entirely up to agency: Ex IPS
Telegraph | 8 March 2025
Police are yet to make any visible move in connection with the FIR against state education minister Bratya Basu and others charged with attempt to murder of a Jadavpur University student.
Many among the students alleged that the same police had “played a proactive” role in arresting a former student within hours of the unrest on the campus on March 1.
Senior officers of Kolkata Police refused to divulge details in connection with the case.
On Friday evening, Om Prakash Mishra, a JU professor who is also named in the FIR and shares the charges with the minister, said that he had not received any summons from the police till then.
Minister Basu declined comment on the case against him.
Acting on a push from Calcutta High Court, the police had drawn up formal charges against Basu, Mishra and Basu’s driver and registered an FIR at Jadavpur police station based on a complaint by Indranuj Roy, the student who was allegedly hit by the minister’s car.
“We have seen that the same police had been so active in identifying one of the ex-students and putting him in lock up. They also sent summons to so many students asking them to appear before the investigating officer. Then why not give the same treatment to the accused in this case?” a student affiliated to CPM’s student wing, SFI, asked on Friday.
A retired IPS officer said making an arrest or sending summons to an accused is an option that rests with the investigating agency.
“Unless it is a heinous crime that demands immediate arrest or questioning of a suspect or a witness, it is for the agency to decide when they want to summon a suspect or a witness. There could be other aspects of an investigation like collection of evidence,” said the retired officer.
In this case, charges of attempt to murder, voluntarily causing hurt, outrage of modesty of a woman, criminal intimidation by threatening to cause death and charges of shared intention (in committing a crime) have been slapped.
Indranuj is in hospital recovering from his injuries. The police said his condition was stable.
Indranuj’s father Amit Roy said he was disappointed because it took the court’s intervention for the police to finally start a case.
“My point is why can’t the state government address the core issues so that the students do not have to carry out these protests at all? Instead of taking the legal path, the state government should try to resolve the matter,” Amit said.