Kolkata: A Jadavpur University (JU) student was arrested on Tuesday in connection with arson at the Trinamool-supported ‘Shiksha Bandhu' office on campus on March 1, the third arrest in this case, sparking protests outside Jadavpur police station.
The arrest of Sauptik Chandra, a second-year civil engineering student, coincided with another student — first-year philosophy student Soumyadeep Mahato, alias Ujaan, also arrested in the same case — being granted bail after five days in police custody. Mahato was immediately arrested in a case related to ‘Azad Kashmir' graffiti on campus, only to be granted bail in this case, too.
The Jadavpur police had, earlier in the day, summoned 16 students for questioning. Chandra was among the two who turned up.
After Chandra's arrest, students gathered outside the police station, claiming harassment and false charges.
The cops claimed Chandra was a sympathiser of Inquilabi Student Unity, though students claimed he was only a FETSU (engineering students' union) member. But a policeman claimed there was footage of Chandra participating in arson.
The students' demonstration, which began around 3.30pm, continued late into the evening, with the protesters chanting slogans against the arrest. The protesters grew in numbers by late evening. A traffic cop said traffic was affected on both SC Mulick Road and Prince Anwar Shah Road because the protesters had occupied the Jadavpur PS crossing.
As tension soared outside the JU campus, there was palpable anxiety in Alipore court, too, when Mahato was produced there. After he was granted bail for arson, public prosecutor Sourin Ghosal sought his arrest in the graffiti case. Police had lodged this case suo motu under BNS sections pertaining to criminal conspiracy and acts endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity, in which a conviction can lead to life imprisonment. The cops claimed they had enough evidence against him, but the court granted him bail because he has exams coming up from March 24.
Calcutta High Court is hearing a case on police action on the JU campus on March 1.
"The law will take its own course, but we urge cops to be sensitive towards students," said Bengali department professor Rajyeswar Sinha. "They must understand that it is important to restore normalcy on campus." Others, like JU research scholar Arijit Saha, were more scathing. "What is happening with the students can only be termed as a witch-hunt. We condemn such police action," he said.
One of the protesting students claimed that the police were "targeting" students, ignoring legitimate complaints. "The graffiti has been there for a long time now. So, why the action only now? This is only to stifle our voice," he said.