While the 17-year-old student of Jadavpur University was lying in hospital in a critical condition early on August 10, some of his hostel mates were allegedly holding meetings to decide how the incident should be “portrayed” and “tutor” their juniors on what to tell the police, said police and university sources.
The police said the tutoring continued even after the death of the student. All the first-year students questioned by the police had to attend “de-briefing sessions” organised by senior and former students, where the freshers were asked to narrate the questions asked by officers and their response.
The police said students and former students who were present when the 17-year-old was being allegedly ragged held at least four “general body” meetings and then met with juniors to decide the next course of action. They allegedly decided not to allow the police inside the campus till their strategy was ready.
“Initially, when we were questioning the first-year students, all of them were saying exactly the same thing. They appeared to have been tutored. But gradually, after they were shifted from the main hostel, they started opening up,” said an officer at Lalbazar.
The police have spoken to more than a dozen first-year students, many of whom are said to have described how they were treated by seniors at the hostel.
“But once the freshers were taken out of the main hostel, where they were living under the shadow of seniors, they started speaking. At the main hostel, the juniors after every police session were made to narrate the questions and their answers. Based on that the seniors would prepare a probable set of questions that the police might ask the next day and how the juniors would answer,” the officer said.
A student who stays at the main hostel said he saw meetings being held but did not attend them.
Allegations have surfaced that the students had locked the hostel’s main gate on the night the 17-year-old fell to his death to prevent the entry of the police. A case has been started against unknown persons for deterring public servants from performing duty.