Sonu Patel

Siliguri, June 15: A post-mortem on Sonu Patel’s body has confirmed that the school student had died of a head injury.

The report, prepared by the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, puts to rest speculation that the Class X student of Siliguri Hindi High School, who died in a clash with SFI activists, may have been a victim of epilepsy.

“The death is due to a head injury, ante-partum in nature. Further opinion may be given on receipt of the report from CFSL (Central Forensic Science Laboratory),” a source said.

The incident, which occurred on May 25, had triggered a public outcry and two bandhs.

“It is now clear that Sonu was done to death by the SFI activists. What, however, is difficult to understand is why aren’t the police doing anything about arresting the people responsible for his killing?” asked Sanjay Prasad, the Chhatra Parishad secretary, Siliguri Town Committee.

He alleged that instead of arresting those named in the FIR, the police are busy picking up drug addicts. “The persons named in the FIR that was lodged by Sonu’s brother are moving around freely, some of whom can even be seen on college campuses,” said Prasad.

“Both the administration and the police have clearly remained completely inactive.... They have failed to take any step to punish the culprits,” said Tama Mazumdar, the convener of Save Education Committee (SEC), a non-political organisation of academics.

The SEC, which recently held a citizens’ convention to condemn Sonu’s killing, is planning to hold a joint rally with similar organisations on Saturday, and will submit a memorandum to the Siliguri sub-divisional officer on Monday.

“We will continue with our pressure campaign till the guilty are brought to book and adequate compensation is given to Sonu’s family,” said Mazumdar.