Jailed Maoist leader attends viva for PhD

Kolkata: Maoist leader Arnab Dam, alias Vikram, from West Bengal, who has been sentenced to life imprisonment, is preparing for his PhD in Hooghly jail. Arnab went to Burdwan University under police cordon on Wednesday to give the viva exam. According to sources, for the first time in history, a jailed Maoist leader applied for a PhD.

On February 15, 2010, Arnab was accused of attacking the Silda EFR camp in West Midnapur (now in Jhargram district). Twenty-four EFR jawans were killed. The court found 23 people guilty in that case. Arnab, one of the accused in that case, was sentenced on February 29, 2023. He has been detained in the Hooghly jail since March 17. From there, Arnab requested that he be given an opportunity to do a PhD.

The judge registered the plea but asked the jail authorities to consider the matter. But Arnab’s plea was ignored. The Maoist leader announced that he would go on a hunger strike for that. In fact, a top Maoist leader successfully cleared the State Eligibility Test (SET) by taking the exam from jail in 2019. Human rights organisation APDR supported Arnab’s claim and urged the Hooghly jail authorities to take immediate action. Finally, as the prison authorities gave permission, Arnab’s interview was arranged.

Sources said Arnab studies in the jail’s library; if he passes the oral interview, he will research on history.

Arnab is the son of retired judge S.K. Dam from Kolkata. He studied mechanical engineering at Kharagpur IIT. It was later heard that he joined CPI (Maoist) in 1998. According to police, Arnab was a close friend of slain Maoist leader Kisanji. The authorities of Hooghly jail said that they made all the arrangements and brought him to Burdwan University. If everything goes well, Arnab will get a chance to do a PhD. It is not known that anyone has done a BA, MA, or PhD from jail before this.