Five day police custody for Jadavpur University first-year student behind violence
Telegraph | 14 March 2025
A first-year Jadavpur University student who was arrested on Wednesday night was allegedly part of a students’ group that had a well-laid out plan about what to do when education minister Bratya Basu arrived on the campus on March 1 and how to tackle cops, police told the Alipore court on Thursday.
Some of the conversations on WhatsApp group chats have been deleted, the police said.
The investigating officer from Jadavpur police station told the magistrate at the court that Soumyadeep Mahanto was also allegedly involved in setting fire to the office of the Trinamul-backed non-teaching employees’ union on the JU campus after a group of students allegedly heckled Basu on March 1.
CCTV footage showed Mahanto’s presence, the officer told the court.
“Some details of group chats suggest there was a plan among a group of students on what to do when the minister arrived and what their roles would be when the police arrived. Besides the accused, others may be involved in this case,” the public prosecutor told the magistrate while pressing for his police custody.
Mahanto was arrested on Wednesday night after he was questioned for several hours at Jadavpur police station.
The 22-year-old from Sonamukhi in Bankura was booked for several offences, including arson. He stays on Russa Road in Golf Green, the police said.
Metro reported the arrest on Thursday. It mistakenly identified him as Saumyadip Mahato, 19.
Mahanto’s lawyer Supreyo Rakshit argued that he was not named in the initial FIR that was drawn up against several students in the aftermath of the March 1 violence.
Countering the demand for police custody, he argued that Mahanto was a good student and that he had an exam on March 24.
The lawyer cited the case of Mohammad Sahil Ali, the former JU student who was earlier arrested in the case, and how the same court granted him bail on Wednesday.
The public prosecutor said since there appeared to be a criminal conspiracy, it was necessary to interrogate Mahanto in custody and unravel the plan behind the March 1 incident.
“If he wants to appear for the exam, arrangements can be made,” the public prosecutor told the court.
After hearing both sides, the magistrate sent Mahanto to police custody for five days.
JU sources said Mahanto enrolled for a UG course in philosophy last year after completing his graduation from another college.
He is a member of the Faculty of Arts Union (FAS), which is an anti-SFI platform of Left-leaning students on the campus, a section of students said.
Some students wondered why Mahanto was not among the 18 students against whom the police filed FIRs for their alleged involvement in stoking disturbance the day the education minister went to the JU campus