The atmosphere of the premier cooperative training institute VAMNICOM is far from normal. The latest case in point is the police interrogation of a senior professor Mr P Chattopadhyay who has escaped arrest so far but till when one does not know.
Police came to the campus looking for Prof Chattopadhyay recently. A nervous professor called everyone on phone from Director to DG to Chairman. Later he went to police station on his own and submitted himself to interrogation. Giving his version of the story Chattopadhayay told the police that the whole thing owes its origin in an anonymous letter addressed to a lady staff with a sexually suggestive content.
Talking to Indian Cooperative Chattopadhyay said this lady worked in my department and was pulled up by me once or twice for dereliction of duty. Exploiting her sense of hurt Director of VAMNICOM Sanjib Patjoshi instigated her to name me in the FIR even though my name was not there in the letter, he added.
Since the letter was unsigned anyone could have planted it but my name was dragged into this at the behest of the Director whose several acts of commission and omission I had objected to in the past, he charged.
When I asked the police official as to why I have been called, they said the lady has named me as one of the probable authors of the letter. Since the lady is a temporary staff she was vulnerable to the dictates of Director Patjoshi, said Chattopadhyay.
The irony is I tried to contact the Director when police came looking for me but to no avail. Later I phoned DG and Chairman who guided me to go to police station, Professor added.
“Being an anonymous letter, one cannot overlook the fact that the author of the anonymous letter could be the Director himself as much as any other employees in the Institute” asked Chattopadhyay who has filed several RTIs to ferret out details of Patjoshi’s activities.
Till now I had only professional disagreement with the Director and I used to argue with him in the normal faculty grievance meetings but he would stoop so low, I had never imagined, said Chattopadhaya.
He says Patjoshi is an IPS officer who finds it hard to forget about his police background. His temperament is barely suited to an academic institution as his yellow beckon car, body guards and a rough and ready mannerism speak to his utterly non-academic style of functioning, charged Chattopadhyay.
Rebuttal to Indian Cooperative news item dated 5th May 2015:
The item regarding “VAMNICOM : Police come calling” dated 5th
may 2015 published by Indian Cooperative.com contains incorrect statements that may
lead to my defamation hence it is necessary to rebutt it, lest it lead to false
information being spread.
The facts are that I received a “Samaj Patra” asking me to attend
the Chaturshrungi Police Station on 20-3-2015 at 11 am to record my version of
the matter and explain the queries the Police had regarding the complaint they
had received. I gave my written say vide letter dated 30th March 2015, Thereafter I have never been summoned to the police station again. The
Police personnel had only come to VAMNICOM to deliver the “Samaj Patra” and NOT
to arrest me as the Samaj Patra is not a “summons”. In view of this, it is
totally false and defaming to publish that the “police had come looking” for me
which implies that I was hiding or attempting to hide which is totally false.
Further, the words “he has managed to escape arrest so far” are also false as
there never was nor is at present any design on my part to evade processes of
law and the process of arrest itself has not commenced. Moreover, the lady who
has complained is not a temporary employee but a permanent employee of
VAMNICOM. Also the question “why cognisance was taken of a anonymous complaint
despite DOPTs circular in regard” needs to be answered.
In view of this I would like to recommend to the Indian Cooperative that
they should have the due diligence to at least verify the facts before they
make a claim about their veracity. In the absence of this due diligence and
almost total absence of regard to facts publishing amounts to nothing but
garnering cheap publicity and sensationalism which could be attributed to
ulterior motives.