A 41-year-old doctor at a private medical college in Kolkata and two others were arrested on Monday for allegedly sending death threats through a letter to Alapan Bandopadhyay, the chief adviser to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, last month.
“We have arrested three persons including Arindam Sen, the doctor. His driver and a typist were also held. The three will be produced in the court today (Tuesday),” said a police officer, who did not want to be named.
The letter sent to Bandopadhyay were among at least seven letters Sen allegedly wrote and were dispatched from a post office in south Kolkata on the same day. The other letters were sent to the director of medical education, principal of a state-run medical college, and senior bureaucrats.
“In some cases, he wrote the letters because he had some personal grudges. In some cases, he was influenced by media reports. In one of the letters, sent to the principal of a medical college, he alleged that there would be a doctors’ agitation and two doctors would die,” the police officer said.
After preliminary interrogation, police suspect Sen could have some mental health issues. He is believed to have told the police that he was under stress. Police were trying to find his medical history.
Acting on a tip-off, police first arrested Bijoy Kumar Kayal, who allegedly typed the letters on Sen’s instructions, and then his driver, Ramesh Shaw, who dispatched them.
“Sen used to send his driver with draft letters to get them typed by Kayal. Finally, Shaw would post the letters. On October 25, he dispatched seven letters through the Sarat Bose Road post office. Further investigation is on,” said the police officer.