New Delhi: Six months after Bengal education minister Bratya Basu was allegedly attacked at Jadavpur University in Kolkata, city police will remand a former student of the university – who was in Spain when the incident took place – to custody till August 18.

On March 1, Basu was surrounded by protesting students after he had attended a meeting organised by the teachers union backed by the ruling Trinamool Congress, WBCUPA, at the university. While trying to leave the situation, videos caught Basu's car driving over a student.

Six months later, police have claimed that Hindol Mazumdar, a former engineering student at the university who has reportedly been pursuing a PhD at the University of Granada since November 2023, was part of the "conspiracy" that led to the kerfuffle when Basu visited. Times of India has reported that he last visited Kolkata in November 2024.

Mazumdar was arrested just as he arrived in New Delhi from Spain on August 13 for his summer holidays. He was scheduled to travel to Kolkata eventually. But a special team of the Kolkata Police arrested him at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. On August 15, the court at Alipore in Kolkata rejected Mazumdar's his bail prayer. He has been remanded to police custody till August 18. It is not clear exactly which sections have been invoked against Mazumdar.

Mazumdar's parents are retired professors; his father Chandan also taught at JU.

His mother Saswati told The Wire, "Hindol lives in Spain, but my husband and I live in Kolkata. We did not get any visits from police?"

PTI has reported that the arrest was against the lookout circular issued against Mazumdar in March. TOI reported that Mazumdar had received "a notice" from the Kolkata Police on March 16 and mailed the police immediately afterwards, letting them know that he was in Spain throughout the period in question.

'Aftab Ansari'

A senior police officer told TOI that two others have also been named in the "conspiracy" case.

Saswati noted that Mazumdar had not organised illegally and was within his rights to express his opinions.

Sourin Ghosal, counsel for the Bengal government, told the court that the fact that he was in Spain during the incident, was untenable and cited the example of Aftab Ansari who planned and monitored the 2002 attack on the American Centre in Kolkata while sitting in Dubai.

“We drew the comparison to counter the argument that he was not present at the spot. Aftab Ansari’s lawyers had also put up the same argument during the trial in the terror attack case,” Ghosal was quoted as having said by Hindustan Times.

"I am surprised at this," Mazumdar's mother told The Wire. "I spoke to some WBCUPA leaders who told me that even they had not known that the education minister would arrive at their meeting that day. If they didn't know, how would my son, in Spain?"

APDR state secretary Ranjit Sur told The Wire that it is ironic that while the rights body has demanded the arrest of education minister Basu and his driver over the fact that his car injured the student Indranuj Ray, a former student and researcher is now being arrested. "We will organise a protest meeting on August 20," he said.

With inputs from Joydeep Sarkar.

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