Two varsity students held over Jadavpur death: Cops

Earlier, a former student, Sourav Chowdhury, who completed his MSc in Mathematics in 2022 but continued to stay in the hostel illegally, was arrested on Friday.

Kolkata: Two second-year undergraduate students of Jadavpur University were arrested on Sunday in connection with the death of an 18-year-old fresher, who allegedly jumped off the second-floor balcony of his hostel on August 9, Kolkata police officers said.

The two accused were identified as Dipsekhar Dutta, a student of economics and resident of Bankura district, and Manotosh Ghosh, a second-year sociology student and hails from Hooghly district, officers said, adding they were arrested after night-long interrogation.

Earlier, a former student of the university, Sourav Chowdhury, who completed his MSc in Mathematics in 2022 but continued to stay in the hostel illegally, was arrested on Friday. All three have been remanded in the police custody till August 22.

“Three people have been arrested so far. The probe is being supervised by some of the most senior officers of Kolkata police,” Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Goyal told reporters. “We are trying to complete the investigation as fast as possible.”

Dutta and Ghosh were summoned for questioning after they were named by Chowdhury. “The two students were arrested after discrepancies were found in their statements,” a senior police officer said, requesting anonymity.

The first-year undergraduate student of Bengali honours, a resident of Nadia district, jumped off the second-floor balcony of the main hostel building around 11.45 pm on Wednesday and died while undergoing treatment at a hospital at 3.40 am on Thursday. The victim was found lying naked in a pool of blood.

Officers said they are investigating if there is a sexual harassment angle in the incident.

Police have taken cognisance of the social media posts of the 18-year-old, including photographs, which suggest there was an element of sexual harassment in the ragging of the deceased. “He was definitely tormented by the hostelers. There can be some passive sexual harassment. We are probing the matter,” another officer said.

Joint commissioner (crime) Shankha Shubhra Chakraborty said absence of security cameras at the hostel is a challenge in the ongoing probe. “Cameras should have been there. So far, we have questioned around 15 people, including university officials,” Chakraborty added.

Police have registered a case under section 302 (murder) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) based on a complaint lodged by the victim’s parents. The case is being probed by the detective department of the Kolkata Police.

There was no statement from the university on the arrests of two students till the time of going to press.

“Let my son be punished if he is guilty,” Dutta’s father Madhusudan Dutta told local media. Shantinath Ghosh, father of the other arrested student, however, said: “I am sure my son is innocent but I can’t show my face to the society.”

A team of the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights on Sunday visited the deceased student’s house in Nadia district and met his family members.

This is a clear case of physical assault perpetrated on the student, Ananya Chakraborti, adviser to the child rights body, said. “We will recommend stringent punishment against those involved in the unpardonable crime,” she told reporters.

Meanwhile, Jadavpur University teachers have decided to hold an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the incident of death of the undergraduate student after his ragging. “We have called for an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the death of the boy, who was like my son. If we pretend to look the other way despite being educators, we will not be forgiven by people,” JUTA general secretary Partha Pratim Roy was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

He added that the meeting will also put forward the demand to ensure that former students, who are no longer associated with the university, leave the hostel immediately.