Kolkata, 22 January (H.S.): The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the Jadavpur University authorities to ensure strict maintenance of law and order and adequate security during the Saraswati Puja scheduled to be held on Friday within the university campus. The court asked the university administration to take all necessary steps and to seek assistance from the local police if required.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen observed that the university administration must remain fully vigilant to prevent any untoward incident on the campus during the puja.

The direction was issued while hearing a public interest litigation related to security and law and order issues at Jadavpur University. During the proceedings, it was informed that the state Higher Education Department had already allocated funds for the installation of closed-circuit television cameras on the campus. The university authorities told the court that the process of installing the cameras was underway and would be completed at the earliest.

Appearing for the state, advocate Kalyan Banerjee submitted that there is a possibility of untoward incidents during Saraswati Puja celebrations on the university campus. He urged the court to issue directions for providing police security during the festival. On the other hand, the university administration informed the court that the installation of CCTV cameras by the state agency would be completed within four weeks.

It may be noted that advocate Soham Das had filed the public interest litigation following the death of a female student allegedly linked to a ragging incident at a hostel of Jadavpur University. In September last year, a third-year English Honours student of the university, Anamika Mandal, died under mysterious circumstances.

The family of the deceased student had alleged murder, claiming that she was pushed into a water body located inside the campus. A complaint of murder was subsequently lodged at the Jadavpur Police Station, and later her body was recovered from a pond within the university premises.

Taking serious note of the matter, the Calcutta High Court had earlier directed the state Higher Education Department to allocate funds to strengthen security arrangements at the university. As part of the measures, CCTV cameras are being installed across the campus and security guards have also been deployed.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh