A day after West Bengal police arrested an ex-student of Jadavpur University in connection with the death of Swapnodeep Kundu, who was the target of ragging in the varsity hostel, the police made two more arrests. The Kolkata police arrested second-year undergraduate students identified as Deepshekhar Dutta (19) and Manotosh Ghosh (20), who were reportedly present at the scene when first-year students were being ragged. The two were arrested after several hours of questioning as police reportedly found discrepancies in their statements.
Citing a police official, India Today reported that the arrested students Deepshekhar and Manotosh put mental pressure on the deceased student. Swapnodeep Kundu was mentally tormented by both of them. During the police inquiry, it was found that the two were directly involved in the alleged incident of ragging. Consequently, Dutta and Ghosh have been placed under arrest. Swapnodeep Kundu was initially denied a room at the main hostel, then he began residing there as Manotosh Ghosh’s guest.
Deepshekhar is a second-year student in the Economics department, and Ghosh is a Sociology student at Jadavpur University. They both reside in the main hostel, where Swapnodeep Kundu died after falling from the second floor.
Meanwhile, Kolkata Police Commission Vineet Goyal said, “Three people have been arrested thus far. The investigation is being overseen by Kolkata Police’s most senior officials including Joint CP (Crime) and DCP (South Suburban Division) The detective department’s homicide unit is also involved in the investigation. With the assistance of FSL, we established a post-mortem board.” DCP Goyal added that efforts are being made to conclude the investigation in a timely manner.
According to police, Dutta and Ghosh were summoned for questioning after being named by Sourav Chowdhury, who was remanded in police custody till August 22 by Kolkata’s Alipore court. Chowdhury was arrested after he admitted to being involved in the ragging event that resulted in the loss of life.
As reported earlier, Kundu repeatedly told his fellow students, “I am not gay,” before the deadly fall. The deceased’s naked body was found after his fall from the balcony. The police have said that they are investigating the sexual harassment angle as well.
On Wednesday Swapnodeep Kundu, a Bachelor of Arts in Bengali student from Hanskhali in Nadia district, fell off the second floor of the hostel building at midnight. Swapnodeep was in room number 68 on the second floor of the A-2 block of Jadavpur University Main Hostel.
As students arrived at the scene after hearing a loud noise, they discovered Swapnodeep lying in a pool of blood. Swapnodeep was transferred to KPC Medical College for treatment, where he died on Thursday at 4:30 AM.
Ramprasad Kundu, the deceased’s father, filed a complaint saying that some of the hostel residents were responsible for his son’s murder.
