Kolkata: West Bengal police has lodged an FIR against a professor of the Calcutta University for allegedly threatening to kill chief minister Mamata Banerjee, on a post on social media.
The case was registered against Arindam Bhattacharya, a professor of the Zoology Department, by the Hare Street police station on the basis of a complaint filed by PhD scholar Tamal Dutta, a senior police officer told PTI.
Bhattacharya was booked under IPC sections 505 (1B) (with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public), 506 (threat be to cause death or grievous hurt) and 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy), said Murlidhar Sharma, the joint commissioner of police (crime).
The professor is yet to be taken into custody, police said.
When contacted by PTI, Bhattacharya said, “I didn’t make any comments against the chief minister. The complainant is a Trinamool Congress supporter. I am waiting for the police to take steps and only after that will I seek legal advice on this.”
The TMC-backed West Bengal College and University Professors Association has condemned Bhattacharya’s social media posts.
In April 2012, Jadavpur University chemistry professor Ambikesh Mahapatra was arrested for allegedly forwarding a cartoon on the chief minister. He is still facing charges under Section 66A of the IT Act, which was read down six years ago.
In 2019, Bengal police had arrested Priyanka Sharma, the convenor of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s youth wing in Howrah, for sharing a morphed image of Banerjee in a meme.
(With PTI inputs)