Jadavpur University Alumnus Granted Bail in Attack on WB Minister’s Convoy Case

Quick Summary

• A Kolkata court granted bail to Hindol Majumdar, Jadavpur University alumnus and researcher, on August 18, 2025.
• Majumdar was accused of plotting an attack on West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu’s convoy at the university campus on March 1, 2015.
• Police cited WhatsApp chats as evidence but were questioned by the defence regarding forensic verification of the data.
• The court granted him bail for a surety of ₹1,000 after questioning why charges under the IT Act had not been invoked.
• The arrest sparked protests from Jadavpur University alumni and staff led by JUTA (Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association).
• civil rights groups approached the West Bengal Human Rights Commission contesting Majumdar’s arrest since he was in Spain during the alleged incident.
• Related developments included another protested arrest of teacher Rezaul Haque for incitement charges; he too received bail from a Bidhannagar court.
• Suman Biswas, an organiser of a teachers’ march against WBSSC decisions, was detained by police but later claimed it aimed to suppress dissent.
• Protests have grown over governance issues in education appointments after the Supreme Court annulled around 25,000 teaching and non-teaching staff recruitments conducted by WBSSC in 2016.

Read More on The Hindu

Indian Opinion Analysis
The granting of bail to Hindol Majumdar highlights judicial scrutiny over law enforcement processes used to establish criminal conspiracy without direct proof or presence at crime scenes. The case has underscored tensions between civil liberties and state surveillance mechanisms like digital data monitoring under legal frameworks such as India’s IT Act.

Protests from academic communities reflect broader concerns about freedom of expression within educational institutions vis-à-vis increasing politicization in governance structures. Additionally, related incidents such as Rezaul Haque’s case point towards apprehensions about suppression efforts targeting dissenters against policies seen as mishandling recruitment processes.

Implications extend into two domains: judicial checks required for procedural fairness while handling politically sensitive cases and larger unrest concerning mismanagement allegations tied with education sector reforms across states like West Bengal following judiciary intervention dismantling prior WBSSC panels hectically impacting thousands-of educators jobs trajectory unexpectedly .