Bengal Minister's vehicle had no pollution control certificate, claims SFI  

Kolkata, March 2 (IANS) Student's Federation of India (SFI) on Sunday claimed that the vehicle of the West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu which had hit two students inside the Jadavpur University (JU) campus, had an expired pollution control validity.

Quoting a portal that gives details of any registered vehicle, State SFI Secretary Debanjan Dey said that according to the portal the pollution control validity certificate of the vehicle with registration number of WB25L7195 had expired on December 23, 2024.

Dey also added that although the full name of the owner of the vehicle is not mentioned in the portal, but from the available name it appeared that the owner of the vehicle is State Trinamool Congress General Secretary Kunal Ghosh.

In the details of the vehicle mentioned in the said portal, a hard copy of which is available with IANS, the name of the owner of the vehicle is mentioned there as -- *U*A* *H*S*.

However, Ghosh himself had denied ownership of the vehicle.

"I do not own a vehicle which is rented out to the state government. I do not know the name of the owner of that vehicle. Even if the name is Kunal Ghosh, I am not the one. I do think that even Bratya Basu himself is aware of the name of the owner. Generally these cars are owned by private car-rental agencies, which also provide their cars to the state government on rent. SFI is resorting to baseless allegations to hide their hooliganism within the Jadavpur University campus on Saturday where the State Education Minister was heckled and assaulted," Ghosh claimed.

Meanwhile, the SFI leader said the Minister came to the university premises on Saturday accompanied by criminals from different parts of the state with the intention to capture Jadavpur University.

"The students' just resisted that," Dey said.

The ruckus broke out on Saturday when the Minister's car was allegedly stopped after it entered the campus, and a scuffle followed. The students were demanding immediate elections for the university's student council.

Already, five FIRs have been lodged over the incident, and one former student of the university has been arrested.

Of the five FIRs, three have been filed by the Trinamool Congress-affiliated West Bengal College and University Professors Association, accusing the protesting students of heckling the Minister and destroying university property within the campus.

On the other hand, the students have registered FIRs accusing the Minister's vehicle of deliberately hitting the students, causing severe injury to two protesting students. One former student of Jadavpur University, Sahel Ali, was arrested by police late Saturday night.

On Saturday, amid the protests, the Minister received minor injuries and fell sick. He was taken to the state-run S.S.K.M. Medical College and Hospital and was released later.