Jadavpur University student arrested in connection with March 1 vandalism on campus

KOLKATA : Police arrested a Jadavpur University (JU) student in connection with the March 1 unrest and vandalism on the campus, taking the total number of arrests in the case to two. A leader of the JU SFI unit told PTI on Wednesday that Soumyadip Mahata, a student of philosophy, was called to Jadavpur police station to record his statement in connection with the violence during TMC's West Bengal College and University Professors' Union AGM where West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu was also present.

A group of students formed human chains around Basu's car and tried to prevent him from leaving, demanding immediate discussions on the pending student union elections. Two students were injured when the minister's car went past the human chain and left the campus. In the protests that followed, the education wing office of TMC non-teaching staff was set aflame and several hoardings and festoons were put up on the campus.

The Students Federation of India (SFI) leader claimed Mahata was a left student activist but not associated with the federation. The organisation along with other student protestors will hold a general body meeting on Thursday to discuss about their future course of movement in the wake of the arrest, he added. "While the university authorities are giving assurances of withdrawing cases against student protestors who only demanded holding of long overdue student union polls after five years, our students are getting arrested. This cannot continue," he said.

A spokesperson of Jadavpur University Teachers Association confirmed Soumyadip's arrest on Wednesday. On March 2, a former JU student was arrested from his rented flat in South Kolkata on charges of being present on the campus during the protest and arson and taking part in the vandalism. The ex-student hails from Birbhum and currently works in an IT firm in Salt Lake.