Kolkata: A day after a mob went on a rampage at Rabindranath Tagore’s Visva-Bharati University in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Tuesday swung into action to probe the source of money that “funded the huge mobilisation of local residents” before the violence.
Sources in the government told ThePrint the agency wrote to university Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty, Director General of Police Virendra, and the district administration, seeking copies of all FIRs lodged in connection with the vandalism.
The agency has also demanded FIRs lodged in connection with any corruption case related to the university.
At least five FIRs have been lodged in connection with the Monday’s vandalism, said Shyam Singh, Birbhum SP.
Asked about the ED letter, Singh said he was yet to receive any such letter.
One of the FIRs includes a complaint by the Visva-Bharati authority, which mentioned 12 local Trinamool Congress leaders, including MLA Naresh Bauri and two councillors of the Trinamool-controlled Bolpur municipality.
Police started a case based on the varsity’s complaint and charged the accused under IPC sections of unlawful assembly, criminal trespass, mischief, theft, provoking breach of peace and criminal intimidation.
However, police didn’t add charges of rioting or damaging public property in any of the FIRs even though videos of the incident showed irate mobs pulling down the university’s heritage gate, smashing walls and damaging several properties.
One of the FIRs was initiated by the police suo moto, which mentioned the presence of 2,000 to 2,500 people at the university campus during the violence.
In the FIR, the inspectors of Bolpur police station said that they were at the spot during the violence, but could not restrain the crowd as they were short-staffed.
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Probe by ED
A source in the government said the central agency is likely to initiate an investigation into the conspiracy and source of money to fund mobilisation of people in and around the campus for the vandalism.
According to the agency’s letter, written by a deputy director of the ED, the damage caused to the university is part of the proceeds of crime and would be recovered by attaching properties of the persons, who committed the crime.
Meanwhile, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar wrote to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, urging her to “enforce accountability of those who engaged in desecration of VBU premises” .
There is outrage all over at vandalism at Visva Bharati University, Shantiniketan.
Urged @MamataOfficial to enforce accountability of those who engaged in desecration of VBU premises.
Time to practice his sublimity and preserve pristine character of VBU so dear to Kobiguru. pic.twitter.com/sIwVqZBSrz
— Governor West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar (@jdhankhar1) August 18, 2020
Visva Bharati vs Trinamool
The complaint from the university was lodged by the Visva-Bharati registrar, stating “few hundreds of hooligans led by Naresh Bauri, MLA Dubrajpur, and other Trinamool leaders, including councillors, entered Poush Mela ground and completely demolished gates, pillars of the university and its camp office by payloader and excavator brought by them”.
The university called the incident an act of “planned crime” in the complaint.
In another FIR filed Monday, Bolpur Traders Association backed by Trinamool Congress submitted a complaint against university V-C and some BJP leaders for leading a procession in support of the construction work disobeying Covid protocol.
In this complaint, police added sections of disobedience, negligence, disobedience to quarantine rule and relevant sections of Epidemic Disease Act, 1987 and the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
In a statement issued late in the evening, the university sought a CBI inquiry into the incident of violence and demanded withdrawal of FIRs “with false allegations” against the vice-chancellor.
It also stated that the university will remain closed until the perpetrators are booked and brought to justice. The varsity also said it will go on a 12-hour fast, demanding peace and justice, but didn’t mention when they will organise it.
Apart from the three complaints, there were complaints filed by the local residents against the contractors, who were involved in the construction of the boundary wall around the mela ground, which was the reason behind Monday’s violence.
The contractors also lodged complaints against the residents, alleging they hampered the construction work.
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District police started a suo moto case prior to the case lodged by the university authorities. According to the suo moto complaint police arrested 8 on 17th afternoon. Visva-Bharati lodged complaint on 17th night.