Two former students of Gurudas College who have been accused of ragging were questioned by police on Wednesday.
The college had lodged a complaint against them on Tuesday.
A junior student has accused them of threatening him for not taking part in political programmes.
On June 8, the UGC had asked the college to “identify and counsel the victim so that he feels safe and knows that authorities are with him and action will be taken on his complaint”. The “victim” had lodged the complaint on the anti-ragging helpline of the UGC.
The communication from the regulator quoted Supreme Court guidelines on steps to be taken by the head of the institution on receipt of a complaint. “The head... shall immediately determine if a case under penal section is made out and, if so, proceed to file a first information report within 24 hours of receipt of such information....”
The college, however, lodged the police complaint two months and three
weeks after receipt of the complaint.
Principal Mousumi Chatterjee told Metro counselling all the students who could be possible victims and speaking to each of them to understand if they had been subjected to ragging was a “time-consuming affair”.
“First we questioned them (students) and submitted a report to the UGC. We have tried our best to identify the victim and then sought clues from the UGC. Based on their clues, we zeroed in on a smaller group...,” Chatterjee said.
“There are so many students.... We examined them all. There were exams in between. Each of them was spoken to separately. It was time-consuming.”
The joint commissioner (crime) of police, Shankha Shubhra Chakrabarty, said an FIR under Section 4 of the West Bengal Prohibition of Ragging in Educational Institutions Act 2000 had been drawn up. The section attracts a maximum punishment of two years in jail.
The police said two of the former students mentioned in the complaint have been questioned.
The “victim” said in the complaint: “...if they cancel the registration, then I have one option (i.e.) suicide.”