E-Paper
Arrest those accused of attacking school teachers by Feb 2: Calcutta HC
Police said the four persons named in the FIR are still missing but investigators have arrested four other suspects in connection with the alleged assault
KOLKATA: The Calcutta high court on Tuesday directed the West Bengal police to arrest all accused in connection with the attack on some teachers inside a school near Kolkata before the class 10 board exams start on February 2.
A bench of Justice Biswajit Basu on Monday directed the police to arrest the accused before the end of the day. The court, however, was told that the police could arrest only four persons till Tuesday afternoon.
“Four persons were named along with 50 others. We have arrested four persons. They were not the persons who were named in the FIR. They are among the other people. Separate teams have been formed and searches are being carried out to arrest the accused persons,” said a senior police officer.
On Saturday, a group of people allegedly barged into classrooms of Balarampur Manmathanath Vidyamandir school, around 20 km south of Kolkata in South 24 Parganas and assaulted some teachers. The attack followed allegations that a teacher had sexually assaulted a student and the institution kept the incident under wraps.
The teachers who were assaulted lodged a complaint with the police. The four persons named in the FIR include two TMC panchayat members Akbar Ali Khan and Alok Naru and the headmaster of the school Syed Imtiyaz Ahmed. The court has barred the headmaster from entering the school.
“Let us give time to the investigating agency to take action. If they fail, I will intervene in the appropriate manner,” West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose told reporters.
Bratya Basu, state education minister had earlier told reporters that no one would be spared.
Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said: “It is a very shameful incident. We can all see how the level of education and schools have dropped in the state during Mamata Banerjee’s regime. Teachers are being beaten up in front of students. If this continues, there won’t be any good students left”.
“We all know why some people are not arrested even after committing a crime and who the people protecting them are. I don’t think any further explanation is needed,” said Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said.
