Police returned the items that had been seized from Hindol Mazumdar, a Jadavpur University (JU) alumnus, on Wednesday. He was arrested at the Delhi airport in August after arriving from Spain, facing allegations of plotting to attack education minister Bratya Basu on the campus of the university.

Although Mazumdar was allowed to return to Spain with his laptop on September 15 after a lookout circular on him was revoked, the remaining seized articles, like the mobile phone, tablet, and e-reader, had not been returned.

The police had seized the articles for forensic test and sent them to the central forensic science laboratory.

On Monday, after Mazumdar’s family approached Alipore court seeking the items, the court asked the police to return the items.

The additional chief judicial magistrate at Alipore instructed the family members not to sell or destroy the articles “during the pendency of the court case”.

Mazumdar, who is pursuing a PhD in biomedicine and clinical sciences at Universidad de Granada, was arrested on August 13.

Education minister Bratya Basu visited Jadavpur University on March 1 to attend a programme of a pro-Trinamool teachers’ association.

He was harassed and heckled by a section of extreme-Left students who demanded an immediate commitment to the resumption of student elections. The attack and a subsequent act of arson were allegedly planned remotely by Mazumdar.

Mazumdar was granted bail on August 18. The lookout circular against him was revoked on August 27.

Sibasish Pattanayak, Mazumdar’s lawyer, alleged that though the three seized articles were with Jadavpur police station, the police were not returning the items intentionally, prompting them to approach the court again.

“The Supreme Court said in an order that the police cannot keep the seized items of an accused indefinitely. This violates democratic rights. Besides, the court had earlier ordered the police to return all the seized items. But apart from the laptop, which belonged to the institute in Spain, the police were withholding all remaining items,” said Pattanayak.

In September, Alipore court’s additional chief judicial magistrate ordered the police to return the devices to Mazumdar.