A Jadavpur University professor was assaulted by a group of Trinamul workers and then arrested by the police along with his neighbour on cyber crime charges for posting a cartoon which allegedly denigrated chief minister Mamata Banerjee, railway minister Mukul Roy and his predecessor Dinesh Trivedi on a popular social networking site, triggering a huge outcry.
Chemistry professor Ambikesh Mahapatra, 52, was beaten up by Trinamul workers soon after he returned home to his flat at New Garia Cooperative Housing Society, of which he is assistant secretary, around 9.15 pm Thursday. “Around 25 Trinamul workers took me to the cooperative’s office and beat me up for circulating (the cartoon) from the cooperative’s official email. I sent (it) for fun. Since Subrata Sengupta, 72, the secretary, does not know how to email, I used to operate it on his behalf.” He said he already apologised to the society’s residents via email on April 6, but “they weren’t satisfied”.
He was then forced to beg for his life and claim he was an “active CPI(M) member” and to “resign from my post”. At 10 pm, he said, “the police arrested me and Mr Sengupta, who is a cardiac patient”. They were booked under the IT Act and various IPC sections, produced in court Friday afternoon, and granted bail. State labour minister Purnendu Bose, justifying the arrest, said the cartoon was “insulting” and “not a caricature”.
It refers to Satyajit Ray’s famous film Sonar Kella to depict Mr Trivedi’s removal as railway minister and Mr Roy succeeding him. It shows Ms Banerjee describing Mr Trivedi as “dushtu lok” (evil man), and offering to make him “vanish” to please Mr Roy.