KOLKATA: Kolkata: Amid political heat over the incident of alleged ragging in Jadavpur University leading to death of first-year student Swapnodeep Kundu, six more persons, including students and former students of the institutions, were arrested on Wednesday. A total of nine persons comprising present and former students of the university were rounded up so far on the basis of the complaint lodged by Swapnodeep’s family.
The police on Wednesday questioned JU’s Dean of Students and registrar in connection with the alleged ragging causing Swapnodeep’s death.
The police said the six persons were arrested after it was noticed that a number of former students were leaving the hostel campus and going to their ancestral villages. “It raised our suspicion. We started interrogating one former and two present students of the university, who are already in our custody, and came to know that the six persons were present in the hostel where the alleged ragging took place,” said a police officer.
Swapnodeep, who took admission at the university on August 3, was found lying naked on the ground in front of the building that houses his hostel-room on the second floor on Thursday last week. The student, who is yet-to-turn 18, was rushed to a private hospital in an unconscious condition where he succumbed to his injuries.
The incident on August 10 continued triggering uproar in the state capital even after a week of the tragedy as two groups of students clashed in the university premises and governor C.V. Ananda Bose, who is the chancellor of the university, convened an emergency meeting at Raj Bhavan with the institution’s authorities.
“We discussed several issues like ragging in the hostel and security of the university premises. Besides, we also gave the governor updated information about our findings related to the incident. Besides, we told the governor that the post of the VC of the university has been lying vacant,” said a university official who was present in the meeting.
On Wednesday, a team of TMC functionaries, including three state ministers, visited Swapnodeep’s Nadia residence. “This is a tragic incident. We met Swapnodeep’s family to give a message that the state government and the party are beside them on this issue,” said education minister Bratya Basu.
The death of Swapnodeep triggered a political slugfest between the ruling TMC and the principal opposition BJP as both parties accused each other of the tragedy. When the TMC held the governor, who is the chancellor of the institution, responsible for the fresher’s death, the saffron camp accused the state government has failed to curb crime like ragging.