Questions raised on patronage received by main accused in JU ragging death case

Kolkata: Amid ongoing simultaneous investigations by the police and an internal committee of the Jadavpur University into the death of fresher Swapnadip Kundu, several questions are being raised on the kind of outside patronage that the main accused in the case received that made him so reckless in running a ragging racket at the students’ hostel.

According to university insiders, some of the students who have been questioned both by the police and internal committee said that the arrested accused Sourav Chowdhury, a former M.Sc. student, had virtually converted the hostel into his parental property, where he had the final word in making the accommodation arrangements for newcomers.

Chowdhury, as claimed by many students, also decided which fresher will stay which student, unless the hostel accommodation was already finalised.

He also reportedly used to proudly proclaim his connections because of which none in the university authorities could mingle with him.

This behavioural pattern had often prompted many students and even a section of the administrative staff that Chowdhury surely enjoyed some outside and influential patronage that made him so reckless, sources said.

Besides Chowdhury, two second year students, Deepsekhar Dutta (19) and Manotosh Ghosh (20), have also been arrested.

All of them have been remanded to police custody till August 22.

Kundu’s body was recovered in front of the balcony of the students’ hostel on August 10 morning and investigations revealed the ragging angle behind the tragedy.

Meanwhile, a team of the anti-ragging cell of the University Grants Commission is scheduled to come to Kolkata for on-ground investigation in the matter.