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Kolkata: Jadavpur pro-VC found dead, suicide suspected
The pro vice-chancellor of Jadavpur University was found dead in his south Kolkata residence on Wednesday afternoon, police said.
The pro vice-chancellor of Jadavpur University was found dead in his south Kolkata residence on Wednesday afternoon, police said.
Samantak Das, 57 was found hanging in his room around 2.30 pm. Police suspect that he died by suicide. However, no suicide note was found.
“Preliminary investigations suggest he died by suicide. We have not recovered any suicide note. The exact reason behind the suicide is not known. We are investigating,” said Awadhesh Pathak, deputy commissioner of police of Kolkata Police’s south suburban division.
Das was a professor of comparative literature and used to live with on the first floor of a four-storey building in the Regent Park area. His ailing octogenarian mother was there in the flat when he hanged himself.
“I didn’t attend office on Tuesday. He had called me on Tuesday and said he was unwell. I told him not to come to office on Wednesday. The office car went to his house on Wednesday. Someone told the driver that he was unwell and was sleeping. Later I came to know that he has expired,” said Suranjan Das, vice chancellor of Jadavpur University.
Police said that the body was first spotted by a house help. “His room was partially bolted from inside. When the maid had come to work and Das didn’t open the door even after being called repeatedly, the maid tried to open the door. It opened and she found him hanging. She immediately raised an alarm,” an officer aware of the case details said.
Das was rushed to the nearest state-run hospital where doctors declared him dead. Later, police sent the body for a post-mortem examination.
He is survived by his wife and three children. “We are yet to speak to them,” said an officer of the local police station.
Das completed his Masters and PhD from Jadavpur Universty, and joined there as a member of the faculty 2005. He headed the comparative literature department from 2007 to 2009, and took special interest in sports, including karate and trekking.
