JU student death case: Police change grilling strategy as arrested men not cooperating
Kolkata (PTI): The police have lodged the 12 people arrested for their "involvement" in the alleged ragging and sexual harassment of a first-year student of Jadavpur University leading to his death, at different police stations as they are not cooperating with the investigation, a senior officer said on Sunday.
The police also claimed that they got evidence that one of the arrested men, who is also a student association leader, had made the deceased sign a "fake" complaint against a senior student belonging to a rival body about his involvement in ragging.
"They (arrested people) are not dreaded criminals, but educated young men. They are not at all cooperating with our officers. For a crime where collective involvement is found, we generally question the accused people making them sit together.
"But here we have decided to change our strategy and talk to them separately as they are parroting each other. For that reason, we have kept them separately," the officer told PTI.
Officials said it appeared the accused had been coached to give exactly an identical version of the event. Usually, there are minor variations of the same incident in the testimony given by different witnesses.
As these people are trying to mislead the investigators, the police are looking for a "gap" in the versions of the 12 arrested, all of whom are former and current students of JU. Besides them, another ex-student was apprehended on Saturday.
A few of the arrested accused are in the central lockup at Lalbazar, the Kolkata Police headquarters, while others are at lockups in different police stations.
"These people are constantly trying to mislead us. They are giving us corroborating versions," he said.
The officer claimed that it was an "organised crime" and the victim "has probably broken down due to the immense mental trauma" he had to face continuously for two to three days.
Meanwhile, the police on Saturday night arrested one former student of the varsity for allegedly obstructing the police to enter the hostel campus on August 9 night when the 17-year-old boy fell from a second-floor balcony of the main boys' hostel. He died the next day.
The arrested person is a former student of the International Relations department. He was summoned for questioning at Jadavpur Police Station after which he was arrested, the officer added.
His family alleged he was a victim of ragging as well as sexual molestation.
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Man kills 12-year-old nephew over property dispute in Karnataka’s Sindhanur
Sindhanur: A 12-year-old boy was killed and his mother seriously injured after a man allegedly attacked his elder brother’s family with a knife over a property dispute in Alabanur village of Sindhanur taluk on Wednesday morning.
The deceased has been identified as Nagaraj Siddappa Alvi (12). Amrutha Siddappa (42) sustained serious injuries in the attack. Police said the accused is Basavaraj Rudrappa Alvi, the younger brother of the victim boy’s father.
According to preliminary information, Basavaraj had arrived in Alabanur village on Tuesday and was staying at his mother’s house.
On Wednesday morning, he allegedly went to the house of his brother Siddappa carrying a knife. At the time, Siddappa’s wife Amrutha and children Nagaraj and Dhanush were present in the house.
Police said the accused allegedly attacked them with the knife. Nagaraj died in the incident, while Amrutha and Dhanush suffered serious injuries.
The injured were shifted to the government hospital in the city for treatment.
Deputy Superintendent of Police G. Chandrashekhar visited the spot and gathered information.
Sources said Chinnamma Rudrappa of Alabanur village has two sons Siddappa, who lives in Alabanur, and Basavaraj, who resides in Alliganur village of Siruguppa taluk.
Police suspect the long-standing property dispute between the two brothers led to the fatal attack.
