Sourabh Chowdhury, a former student at Jadavpur University who has been arrested in connection with the death of 18-year-old Swapnadeep Kundu, had cleared his master’s in mathematics in 2022 but had stayed on in the hostel, sources said.
Sourabh Chowdhury, who has been arrested
The arrest came within hours of Swapnadeep’s father lodging a complaint of murder, naming Chowdhury and another student.
“Sourabh Chowdhury has been arrested. He will be produced in court on Saturday,” said joint commissioner, crime, Kolkata police, Sankha Shubhra Chakraborty.
Police sources said Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Goyal had questioned Chowdhury before he was arrested.
Chowdhury has been charged under IPC sections dealing with murder and common intention.
A team of officers from Kolkata went to the Kundus’ home in Nadia district on Thursday night to record the statement of Swapnadeep’s father, Ramprasad Kundu.
According to the father’s letter of complaint, Chowdhury and a student at the university were instrumental in getting Swapnadeep a room at the hostel.
“According to the family, the two students were instrumental in getting Swapnadeep a room at JU Main Hostel,” said a senior officer at Lalbazar.
Ramprasad Kundu said he believed that a group of hostel residents, acting under Chowdhury’s leadership, was responsible for his son’s death.
“The day I took him to the university for admission, I met some boys who alerted me about the college hostel. But I did not realise the seriousness of the issue. Later, when my son started speaking about his problems, we asked him to share them in detail. But he said they were not allowed to share the problems with anyone. He said ‘bolle bipod aachhey (I will be in trouble if I share)’,” Ramprasad Kundu told The Telegraph.
“When Swapnadeep and I went for his admission, we met Sourabh Chowdhury and another student at the hostel outside the campus. They overheard our discussion about not getting accommodation. They approached me saying they will arrange his stay,” he said.
On the day of the incident, Swapnadeep’s phone was allegedly snatched and he made several calls to his mother from another student’s phone. He said he was in a sorry state and that he would tell the details later at home, the father said.
A relative of Swapnadeep said he was forced to cut his hair as ordered by some of the hostel residents.
Swapnadeep’s aunt Aparna Kundu said: “After his entry into the hostel, he told his mother that he had been asked to get a military cut. His mother was reluctant as he had recently had a haircut. But he said that it was an order by some of the seniors. So he got his hair cut on Wednesday at a salon. He spent Rs 40 on the haircut, he told his mother on Wednesday evening.”
Swapnadeep, she said, was not answering his mother’s phone calls on Wednesday evening. When he did, his phone was allegedly snatched by Sourabh Chowdhury, who did not allow him to speak.
“Just when he (Swapnadeep) was telling his mother that he was feeling very scared and his mother asked why, Sourabh snatched his phone and started saying: ‘There is nothing to fear. Swapnadeep is fine’,” Aparna Kundu said.
Earlier on Friday, JU’s dean of students Rajat Ray; superintendent of the main hostel, Tapan Kumar Jana; the head of the Bengali department, Joyeep Ghosh; and the dean of science, Subinoy Chakraborty, were called to Jadavpur police station, where officers spoke to them for around three hours.
Ray and Chakraborty declined comment after they stepped out. Jana did not answer calls from The Telegraph.
Ghosh said he was asked if there was any incident in the department.
“They asked if anything had happened inside the department. I told them nothing like that happened. The atmosphere was friendly. A few students of the first year were also called to the police station and asked whether anything had happened in the department,” Ghosh said.
The police said they have questioned several students and university employees. They also want to question some former students who were in the main hostel on Wednesday.
