Calcutta, June 25: Former Visva-Bharati vice-chancellor Dilip Kumar Sinha and mathematics teacher Mukti Deb, who were arrested early this morning, arrived at Alipore subdivisional judicial magistrate’s court in the afternoon amid tight security and media frenzy.

A Sumo carrying the duo rolled into the premises at 2 pm with a white Ambassador trailing close behind. Security personnel escorted Sinha, in a striped bush shirt and grey trousers, and Deb.

The taint of a scam on their backs, the former VC and ex-lecturer were made to wait in the court lockup for over two hours with criminals. The duo was brought to subdivisional judicial magistrate Manjit Singh’s court around 4 pm.

Sinha only managed a half smile in response to a volley of questions from reporters. Asked about the arrest, Deb scowled: “I have been framed.”

There, Sinha and Deb had to wait in a caged enclosure for another half-an-hour as the police had not procured the papers to be submitted before the magistrate.

A packed courtroom was told they have been booked for criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and passing off forged documents as genuine. The charges are non-bailable

Sinha’s lawyer Tamal Mukherjee told the court: “He is a very respectable person and has been residing in Calcutta since 1944. He is a cardiac patient and someone of his stature should not be harassed like this. (The) police delayed in getting the case dairy to the court, due to which Sinha was made to wait in the lockup for such a long time.”

Deb’s lawyer said: “Arrests have to be made between dawn and dusk. Arrest after midnight amounts to the violation of human rights. The police say she forged documents, but where is the proof?” asked Hafizur Rahman.

The assistant public prosecutor said the duo was arrested because when Deb got the job on January 16, 1997, Sinha was the chairman of the appointing committee and had attested her certificates. The varsity registrar had lodged an FIR at Bolpur police station saying her marksheets and certificates were fake.