JU fresher death: Ex student remanded to police custody till Aug 22

Sourav Chowdhary, who completed his post-graduation in Maths from the varsity, was arrested late Friday evening on the charges of killing

Kolkata: A local court in Kolkata on Saturday remanded till August 22 a former student of Jadhavpur University on the charges of murdering first year student of the varsity.

Sourav Chowdhary, who completed his post-graduation in Maths from the varsity, was arrested late Friday evening on the charges of killing

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Swapnadip Kundu. Although the public prosecutor sought his police custody till August 25, the court allowed it till August 22. Chowdhary was named in the FIR filed by the victim’s father Ramprasad Kundu in which he described the former JU student as the key accused behind the ragging that happened at the student’s hostel balcony off which the victim had fallen on August 10 and died.

Chowdhary is reported to have a major say in accommodation arrangements at the student’s hostel. The night before Swapnadip’s body was recovered from front of the hostel, he appeared very restless and constantly said that he is not a “gay”, investigating officials said on the information provided by hostel-mates of the victim. The victim’s shy approach towards the female students prompted the offenders to label him as a “gay”, the officials added.

The night before he even called up his parents who stayed at Nadia and narrated to them about the ragging he was undergoing. Besides the routine police inquiry, the JU authorities have also decided to conduct internal inquiry into the matter.

A committee consisting of the university teachers from various departments along with representatives from the different students’ councils has been constituted for that purpose. The said committee, headed by the science department dean of JU Subinoy Chakraborty, is supposed to complete the internal probe within 15 days and submit a report to the university authorities.