Main accused held over Narail principal assault, remand sought

Police on Wednesday night arrested Rahmat Ullah Rony, the main accused in a case filed over forcing Mirzapur United Degree College acting principal Swapan Kumar Biswas to wear a garland of shoes, from Khulna.

With this, four people have been arrested and two cases have been filed in connection with the incident that took place on 17 June. 

Police have moved the court seeking five-day remand for each of the arrestees, Narail Sadar police inspector Mahmudur Rahman said, adding, "Three of the arrestees were sent to the court on 29 June and the other one on 30 June. The court has fixed 3 July for hearing the remand plea."

All the arrestees are currently in jail, he continued.

Meanwhile, human rights organisation Ain o shalish kendro (ASK) on Thursday filed a writ petition at the High Court seeking a directive for a judicial probe into the assault inflicted on Swapan Kumar.

The writ demanded a formal legal investigation by a judge, appointed by the HC.

Advocate Purnima Jahan, on behalf of the ASK, filed the writ petition with the HC bench of justices Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Khizir Hayat.

On 28 June, advocate Purnima drew the attention of the court to the humiliation of the Narail teacher. The HC bench then advised her to file a writ petition.

Meanwhile, some members of the investigative committee formed by the district administration to look into the matter believe that a group of teachers might have been involved in the assault of the principal.

SM Chayedur Rahman, a member of the committee and Narail district education officer, said, "With so many teachers involved, the issue could have been resolved if everyone tried. So, we are trying to find out whether any teachers were involved."

Although he said nothing has been proven yet, he added some of the teachers interviewed had also revealed some internal conflict among the teachers

Earlier on Sunday night, police arrested three people in this connection. They are: Mirzapur market mobile phone trader Shaon Khan, Monirul Islam and Syed Rimon Ali of Mirzapur.

On 27 June, Mirzapur outpost In-Charge and Sub-Inspector Sheikh Morsalin filed a case with Narail Sadar police station over the violence that took place on 18 June.

In the case filed under sections 34, 143, 447, 448, 323, 341, 332, 353, 355, 436, 427 and 500 of the Penal Code, around 170-180 unidentified persons have been accused.

On 18 June, Principal Swapan Kumar was forced to wear a garland of shoes around his neck after a tense situation centring a Facebook post on Nupur Sharma, spokesperson of India's ruling party BJP.

Some students and locals accused Swapan of supporting the student who posted a picture of the controversial former BJP leader Nupur Sharma on Facebook.

They also set a motorcycle on fire barring government work in the area in the presence of local police.

Swapan Kumar Biswas was seen apologising with folded hands at the time of the assault in a video that circulated later in the day following a day-long protest and violence in Mirzapur United Degree College.

Speaking to The Business Standard, Swapan Kumar said he had approached a few teachers for help, but they played a silent role.

"When some students informed me about the incident in the morning, I called three teachers and discussed the matter with them. One of them was a member of the board of directors and the other was Akther Hossain Tinku, the president of the local Awami League unit.

"In case of anything untoward, I usually first inform these three teachers. I discussed the issue of informing the matter to the local police outpost, but they did not say anything and kept silent," he said.

Tinku denied this allegation saying he had agreed to go to the police and ensure the student who made the post was punished.

Before any action could be taken, locals, college-goers, and students of a nearby madrasa gathered on the school premises.

Swapan said at that point he called the chairman of the governing body of the college, a member of parliament, and others, but none came to his aid.

The crowd set fire to three motorcycles, including Swapan's.

Police later arrived and took the principal into custody. Despite being surrounded by hundreds of police, Swapan was still beaten by the crowd and was forced to put on the garland of shoes.