Ink sprinkled on Shyama Prasad Mukherjee's name

The name of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, engraved on a marble wall of the Presidency University here was found sprinkled with black ink today, days after a bust of the Jana Sangh founder was defiled in the city.

The wall is on the ground floor of the main building of the iconic institution on which the names of distinguished alumni of Presidency College, now a university, are engraved.

Mookerjee had graduated from the college with a first class first in English in 1922.

University Registrar Debajyoti Konar told PTI that the staff of the institution first noticed ink sprinkled on Mukherjee's name in the morning and alerted the authorities.

Condemning the act, West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee told reporters that the incident should be investigated and the perpetrators identified.

"The university should ensure that those responsible for the act are punished in the most appropriate manner," he said.

Konar said a five-member high-powered committee comprising the dean of students and other senior university officials has been constituted to enquire into the incident and identify the culprits.

"The CCTV footage is being examined. We'll take strict action in accordance with the university rules against those involved," he added.

The institution's unit of the SFI, the CPI-M's students wing, condemned the incident. It said in a statement that such acts went against the tradition of the institution.

A bust of Mookerjee was found defiled in the city on March 7 and seven people belonging to a left-wing group were arrested.