Saraswati Puja at Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri Law College on Prince Anwar Shah Road was held under police surveillance on Sunday, with students being asked to produce identity cards before entering the college premises.

Senior police officers supervised the arrangements following a directive from Calcutta High Court.

On Friday, the high court ordered that the puja be conducted under the supervision of a joint police commissioner of Kolkata Police.

The high court’s order followed a petition filed by some students alleging that “outsiders” were preventing their efforts to organise the puja this year.

Deshma Ghosh, a 23-year-old final year BA LLB student, alleged that outsiders frequently entered the campus and used abusive language and that many like her felt insecure on the campus.

State education minister Brartya Basu visited the college on Sunday. Mala Roy, the president of the college’s governing body and local Trinamool Congress MP, accompanied him.

Some of the students spoke to minister Basu about their fear of “outsiders”.

Some of the students alleged that Mohammad Shabbir Ali, an outsider, has been harassing them since February 2022 and added that they had presented their case before the education minister.

Basu said he was open to discussions if the students genuinely wanted to talk. But it seemed that they were more keen on media attention, the minister added.

“If the students had any grievances, they should inform the principal,” he
said.

Since morning a team of officers led by Ajoy Prasad, joint commissioner of Kolkata Police, remained posted outside the college gates. Priyobrata Roy, a deputy commissioner of police (South), was also present. Cops, some of them armed, ensured the warring groups of students from the Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri College and their counterparts in the Law College didn’t reach a flash point over puja preparations.

The students of the Law College held their Saraswati Puja at the new building
on the college premises. The principal of Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri College, Pankaj Kumar Roy, organised another in front of the Ranadev Chaudhuri Cemetery Building of the law college under a portico. It was a smaller one and perfunctory.

A third was held outside the college premises, in front of the party office of the local Trinamool MLA, Aroop Biswas.

Shabbir, against whom allegations continued to be labelled throughout the day, said he was a disciplined member of the Trinamool Congress and would only speak when directed by his leaders.