Kolkata: Kolkata Police on Monday said they have arrested a professor accused of sending a threat letter to the registrar of Kolkata’s Jadavpur University (JU), Snehomonju Basu, warning the latter of dire consequences if Saurav Chowdhury, the prime accused in the August 10 ragging-related death of a fresher, was harmed.
The arrested accused has been identified as Rana Roy, an associate professor of history with ABN Seal College at Cooch Behar district.
He had been on medical leave since the end of April this year.
On receiving specific information, Kolkata Police peronnel reached Bhubaneswar on Sunday evening and arrested Roy from a hotel.
City police sources said that there was a previous case of molestation against the accused in 2019.
He went absconding but was arrested later and released on bail by a lower court in Kolkata.
He has also been accused of falsely claiming himself as a West Bengal Civil Service Officer (WBCS) officer.
Roy is being brought back to Kolkata on transit remand from Bhubaneswar and if possible he will be presented at a lower court later in the day.
The JU registrar received the threat letter on September 1 and she filed a complaint at the local Jadavpur Police station the next day.
“Sourav is the pride of JU. He had been falsely implicated by the police under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. You have to take the responsibility if he is harmed even a bit. Just a bullet of a revolver will be enough for that,” the letter read.
Sourav was the first among 13 arrested by the police since the unfortunate death of the fresher on August 10.
He is a former post- graduate student of mathematics.
Initial investigation revealed that he was not just the prime accused in running the ragging menace at the students’ hostel of the university where the tragedy took place on August 10, but also acted as the final word in accommodation-related administrative decisions.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Neha Khan | 
