Police have started a case under sections of criminal intimidation, causing outrage of modesty of a woman through words and gestures after a senior Jadavpur University official lodged a complaint upon receiving a threat letter.
The letter said she could be shot if any action was taken against a former JU student accused of ragging and murder, police said.
Two senior JU officials apparently got similar threats and they, too, lodged a complaint at Jadavpur police station on Friday night.
A JU official said the letter written on a postcard and sent by ordinary post, said the sender was a professor. The police said there was indeed a professor by that name but they were yet to confirm whether he was the actual sender.
The letter said no harm should be done to Sourav Chowdhury — a former JU student who has been arrested in connection with the death of a 17-year-old JU student in the university’s main hostel.
The letter said: “Sourav is a pride of our university and if any scratch appears on Sourav, you will be held responsible. Sourav should not be harmed in the name of a probe. If any harm is done to Sourav, you will garlanded with shoes and forced out of the university.”
“It would not be much of a trouble for me to spare a revolver bullet for you,” it said.
Joint commissioner (crime), Kolkata police, Shankha Shubhra Chakrabarty, said: “A case has been started under sections of criminal intimidation, causing outrage of modesty of a woman through words and gestures and common intention. This case was recorded on the basis of the enquiry report and written complaint...”
The senior JU official to whom the letter was addressed said: “I was feeling threatened. The officers said they are looking into the matter.”
“I wrote to the police that the letter is self-explanatory and requested them to consider this as an FIR and take necessary measures for our safety and security,” she said.
Hours after lodging the complaint, the JU official sent an email to the university’s officiating vice-chancellor, Buddhadeb Sau, asking to be released from her post. “She cited that she was feeling threatened,” a JU official said.
The senior official told a news conference on Saturday: “I did not send any letter of resignation. Yesterday, I sent an internal note to the VC out of fear. Don’t consider this a resignation.”
Sau said: “I have spoken to (he names the post). If she needs protection at the workplace or at home, that would be taken care of. We want her to continue.”