Kolkata, Sept. 30 -- The state government has constituted a six-member SIT to probe the September 27 violence at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) campus, amid nationwide condemnation by artistes of the attack on students.

The high-level team, led by Additional Commissioner of Police (Addl. CP), Crime, Kolkata, Kunal Agarwal, has been mandated to submit its preliminary investigation report by October 1.

The SIT also includes Deputy Commissioner (Detective Department) Sparsha Nilangi, state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Deputy Superintendent Koushik Ghosh, along with Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) of Anti Rowdy Section, Salil Roy, ACP of East Suburban Division, Tushar Kanti Ghosh and Inspector of Kolkata Police Detective Department, Hirak Dalapati.

The probe will cover three FIRs at Panchasayar police station - a suo motu case, a complaint by SRFTI Dean Sukanta Majumdar and a counter-complaint by the ABGP.

Several artistes nationwide, including filmmaker Anurag Kashyap and voices from the Bengali film industry, condemned the attack on students. On Tuesday, several members of the Bengali film industry participated in a gathering to show solidarity towards the students.

Also, more than 90 artistes and filmmakers from across the nation, including award-winning makers like Payal Kapadia, Devashish Makhija, Aditya Vikram Sengupta, Kanu Behl, Bauddhayan Mukherji, Karan Tejpal, among others, have condemned the attack on students.

The artistes and filmmakers said there can be no justification for violence against students or brutality on an educational campus.

They sought an impartial probe into the September 27 SRFTI violence and immediate protection for students and staff, urging the I&B Ministry, SRFTI and Bengal government to ensure educational and cultural institutions remain spaces for dissent without intimidation or violence. Meanwhile, SRFTI students launched an indefinite academic boycott of classes and film shoots.

Violence erupted on Sunday after SRFTI students protested an ABGP event at the campus auditorium, questioning its use of the film school's main hall for a non-cinema programme. The clash left several students injured. Students alleged they were attacked by armed outsiders, while the ABGP said it had official permission and was targeted first.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.