Jadavpur University Student's Death Case Leads To Six More Arrests

KOLKATA: Six more current as well as former students have been arrested in the wake of the death of a fresher due to alleged ragging at Kolkata's Jadavpur University.

With this, the total number of arrests has increased to nine in the case that has triggered public outrage across the state, a police official said.

Meanwhile, the Dean of Students and Registrar of JU has been asked to meet Joint CP Crime on Wednesday at the Kolkata Police headquarters at Lalbazar, the officer said.

It was also informed by the official that three former students of JU are among the six held on Tuesday night, when teams of the city police conducted multiple operations, he said.

The three former students, staying in the hostel, were arrested last night after they gave incoherent replies to city police officers during questioning. “It seems that they were actively involved in the death of the student. We will produce them in a court later in the day," the officer said.

Of the six arrested, two are said to be third-year civil engineering students, while one is studying electrical engineering, police said.

Elaborating on the arrests, the police officer said all the six were known to have been staying at the hostel and had allegedly fled after the death of the student.

"Three of the six students were staying at the hostel even after they passed out from the university. They fled soon after the first arrest was made," he said.

Moreover, there was no CCTV camera installed at the hostel, in violation the standard norms, he said.

"We are also questioning others and have asked the Dean of Students and Registrar of JU to meet Joint CP Crime at the Lalbazar this evening," the officer informed.

Earlier, the police had taken into custody three students of JU for their alleged involvement in ragging of the 18-year-old undergraduate student who died.

The victim is a first-year student enrolled in Bengali honours course, who allegedly fell from the second-floor balcony of the main hostel at around 11.45 pm on Wednesday and succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at a hospital the next day.

The city police have taken into consideration the social media posts of JU students, including photographs, with the suggestion of there being an element of sexual harassment in the ragging of the deceased student.

After several allegations of ragging came to the fore, a case of murder and conspiracy was registered by the police. The sexual harassment angle is also being probed, sources had said.

To cap it all, the incident has led to a political war of words, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blaming the Left-backed student bodies over the incident. The BJP is meanwhile set to hold a protest over the incident.

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