While Vyapam is still as nebulous as it can be, a similar scam seems to be rearing its ugly head in West Bengal. Chayan Sarkar, Alipurduar district correspondent of Uttar Banga Sambad (a popular daily in north Bengal), had been investigating malpractices in college admissions for a while. From July 28, when his investigations were published in the daily, to August 2, when he went missing, there have been several incidents leading up to Chayan's abduction. Doused in what seems like much corruption, with the accused being members of the Trinamool Congress, the ruling party in the state, Chayan Sarkar's absence has ruffled up many feathers in the area.

On July 27, Sarkar had reported the results of his investigation, which the daily ran on July 28. Admissions to graduation courses in colleges in Alipurduar, Sarkar had reported, were being sealed by taking money from candidates. Honours seats at colleges in the district were not being filled by fair means, the Students' Union of the district had alleged. Members from the union had also filed a petition asking the District Magistrate Samiran Mandal to look into the matter.

In the July 28 report, president of the Students' Union Tayan Saha had been quoted as saying, "The State Education Board had said that students would be able to apply online for courses in the colleges in the district. However, the reality is far from what they had said. Honours seats at the district colleges are being sold for Rs 40,000 to Rs 90,000, depending on the stream chosen. This is leading to deserving students losing out on the seats."

The Alipurduar District Students' Union President also alleged that in Alipurduar College and Vivekananda College in the town, the corruption had shot through the roof. In these two colleges, the Students' Union is run by members of the Trinamool Congress. Tanay Saha had also accused a group of teachers as being hand-in-glove with the miscreants. On their part, president of the Trinamool Students' Union Bablu Kar had refuted the 'rumours' saying, "They are just trying to blacken the reputation and name of Trinamool Congress."

Following the report, on July 28 morning, members of the Trinamool Students' Union blocked the road outside Vivekananda College and raised slogans against the reporter. At 2pm that afternoon, leaders of the union accompanied several other miscreants to Chayan Sarkar's house. The group stoned Sarkar's house and threatened to kill his parents. The group tried to set the house and the inhabitants on fire, too. The district president of Trinamool Yuva Congress, Samar Bhattacharya had been linked to the group that had attacked Sarkar's house. However, amid severe criticism from other political parties in the state, Trinamool Students' Union President Bablu Kar denied any role of Bhattacharya in the attack.

Following the death threats and the incident, Chayan filed an FIR. In his complaint, Sarkar had written that Samar Bhattacharya had been threatening him for his role in reporting the sale of college seats. Eye-witnesses have been quoted as saying that on July 28 afternoon, a group of 45-50 people had come to attack Chayan's house. When his neighbours began protesting against the group, the latter left. Following the incident, IC Tirtha Bhattacharya and his team rushed to the location, and began investigating the case.

On August 1, the police arrested eight of the nine people Chayan's FIR named. Subho Saha, Rintu Hossain, Raju Roy Adhikari, Manish Chakraborty, Biman Barman, Sukanto Debnath, Jayanta Debnath and Partho Shil are the ones who have been arrested. District Superintendent Abharu Rabindranath was quoted as saying that Samar Bhattacharya, the main accused in the case, has been absconding. On August 2, several people from the district staged a dharna demanding the main accused, Bhattacharya be arrested.

At 10pm on the same day, Chayan Sarkar's motorcycle was discovered lying near the Salsalabari Railway Station in Alipurduar. Next to the two-wheeler was his wallet and ID card. Local residents who chanced upon his bike tooth-combed the surrounding areas, but Sarkar was not to be found. Calls to his mobile number were met with a 'this number is switched off' message. From 10pm on August 2 to the time of filing this report, Sarkar had been missing. Journalists from the neighbouring districts of Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar have demanded investigation into the matter. The case has been handed over to the CID.

(With inputs from Arabinda Bhattacharya in Alipurduar)

