Controversy over the death of a first-year student in Kolkata's Jadavpur University earlier this month refuses to die down, with the Kolkata Police saying that they suspect that the group of men and women, who had entered the university's campus last week wearing army-like fatiagues, wanted to "tamper with evidence" in the case.
The leader of the group, Quazi Sadeque Hossain, the self-proclaimed secretary general of the Asian Human Rights Society (a non-governmental organisation with its address registered at Garden Reach Road, Kolkata, on Google), was arrested on Saturday, 26 August, for barging into the campus.
On 23 August, at least 15 people from the group had entered the campus, initially claiming to be from the Indian Army, with some of their uniforms carrying the army insignia. They later claimed they had connections with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
As word spread about an alleged 'army siege' of JU – and suspicion arose over who the uniformed people actually were – an army spokesperson had clarified to The Telegraph that they had no such unit.
A spokesperson for the army's Eastern Command had said: "They have nothing to do with the Indian Army."
The Quint reached out to the Asian Human Rights Society over the phone, but received no response.
'Hossain Being Uncooperative'
A police officer at Lalbazar, the Kolkata Police headquarters, told The Quint that Hossain has not revealed his reasons for leading the group of men and women in army-like uniform to JU – and for invoking false connections with the Indian Army and the NHRC.
The police have drawn up a suo motu case against his organisation. "He has been asked to appear for a round of questioning... We have several questions for him and the organisation," the officer added.
According to The Telegraph, the group had said they wanted to "volunteer to combat unrest" on the campus, following the death of the undergraduate student on 10 August.
"We suspect they might have gone there to destroy some evidence related to the student's death," the publication quoted a police official as saying.
The officer at Lalbazar further added they have recovered several fake cards and letterheads of various organisations at Hossain's Garden Reach residence. There are several names and numbers mentioned under the letterhead of the Asian Human Rights Society, he said.
The officer said that Hossain had probably lied to members of the group and brought them to JU by making some other promises. He also said that they have "doubts about the Asian Human Rights Society being an NGO."
"We are probing the veracity of his claims regarding the Asian Human Rights Society being an international NGO. Specifically, we are carrying out an investigation on its financial dealings and trying to ascertain who actually are the beneficiaries of the said NGO."Police officer
The officer also raised doubts about why Hossain had reportedly offered to provide security on the university campus for free. "It is doubtful as to why any firm with fake identity would want to provide security on the campus for free unless it had some ulterior motive," the officer said.
As per The Telegraph, Jadavpur University was initially reluctant to lodge a police complaint against Hossain's outfit. The newspaper stated that the officiating vice-chancellor had tried to justify Hossain's outfit's presence, its alleged attempt to take over the security, and its "human surveillance" on the campus.
The police had already drawn up a case on their own because the outfit had allegedly made false claims and misused the army logo and insignia.
On Friday, 25 August, two days after the group had entered the campus, JU registrar Snehamanju Basu lodged a complaint against it with Jadavpur police station. The Quint has tried to reach out to the university's authorities, including Partha Pratim Roy, a Physics professor who represents the JU Teachers' Association, about the allegations that JU was initially reluctant to lodge a complaint against Hossain's outfit. They are yet to respond.
Basu told The Telegraph on Sunday that she was "relieved" that someone had been arrested in the case.
"This has brought a lot of disrepute to the university... Later, it emerged that they were not from the army. They were also carrying fake identity cards. It was an awkward situation," Basu told the newspaper.
'One of Main Accused Created a WhatsApp Group'
The police also said that one of the main accused persons in student death case created a WhatsApp group – 'JUMH' (Jadavpur University Main Hostel) – instructing its members as to what to say when asked if he was staying in the hostel at the time of the incident.
The group was deleted later, it was claimed, according to The Indian Express.
An investigating officer told The Quint that there were messages circulating on the group on how to influence the probe.
"The main accused used to give 'instruction' to that group on what to say if the police asked the students about the main accused's whereabouts. We are trying to ascertain if the group existed before the incident or after it. We believe that there were at least 20 students in that group. The main accused probably anticipated that there would be questions raised on how he was being allowed to stay on in the hostel despite being a former student," the officer said.
Meanwhile, the mobile phones and laptops of the students and former students of Jadavpur University who have been arrested in connection with the death of a first-year student could hold important evidence related to the incident, the police said on Monday, 28 August.
The lawyers representing the youths said their clients were "innocent" – and that they had nothing to do with the death of the 17-year-old student.
"There is no witness who saw them being involved in the incident. The police arrested them just to harass them," The Telegraph quoted a defence lawyer as saying.
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