West Bengal forms six-member team to investigate violence at film institute
The West Bengal Government has constituted a Special Investigation Team to examine violence at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute in Kolkata on September 27. The team, headed by Kolkata Police’s Kunal Agrawal, must submit its first report by October 1; police have registered three FIRs.
The West Bengal Government has formed a six-member Special Investigation Team to investigate violence at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) in Kolkata on September 27. The team is headed by Kunal Agrawal, Additional Commissioner of Kolkata Police (Crime). A government notification said the SIT would submit its first report by October 1.
Kolkata Police have registered three First Information Reports in connection with the incident. One followed a complaint by Sukanta Majumder, Dean-Film at SRFTI; another was filed by Anjan Sinha, provincial head of the Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat (ABGP) in West Bengal. The third was registered on a complaint by Koushick Bose, Additional Officer-in-Charge of Panchasayar police station.
The violence broke out during an ABGP event held at the institute. Members of the organisation, described in the source material as a right-wing consumer group, clashed with SRFTI students. Several students were injured.
Students questioned why an organisation not connected with cinema or filmmaking had been allowed to use the institute’s main auditorium. ABGP members said they had booked the auditorium after paying a fee and alleged that students disrupted the programme and tore posters at the venue. Both sides have blamed each other for the violence.
The incident has also prompted political reactions. Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including some State ministers, blamed the students and described those protesting against the event as “Dimagi Naxal”. The SIT’s first report is expected to provide the initial findings of the State government’s inquiry.
The three police cases will proceed alongside the investigation into the events on the campus.
This independently written report is based on information supplied by the named publisher. Vertrix News has not independently verified the source report.