Villain or victim of circumstances?

Kolkata: Surojit Chanda is paying a heavy price for being rash and tactless, said his colleagues a day after the 41-year-old lecturer of applied arts was arrested along with five students for being allegedly responsible for the death an employee of Rabindra Bharati University.
None of them believes that Chanda could have egged on the students to assault someone as has been alleged.All of them feel that he is a victim of the circumstances. Chanda and the other accused have been slapped with culpable homicide not amounting to murder (u/s 304 of IPC).
"It is easy to misunderstand Chanda, especially from the way he talks. It may seem a bit offensive at times. He might be telling something absolutely harmless, but the way he speaks made all the difference," said a very senior professor of the university, who has known Chanda since his student says in the university.
On Friday, Chanda, who was conducting the viva-voce of master's degree students, went to investigate after hearing the clamour outside. Unlike the others on the spot, he went straight to the middle of the chaos to prevent the students from getting into trouble. His colleagues felt it's possible that the way he speaks led people to believe that he was egging on the accused students to assault Basudeb Nandy. "But we know he is incapable of doing that," said one of his colleagues.
"Soon, there was a huge mob baying for the attackers' blood, without even knowing what exactly had happened. Rumours flew thick and fast. People were shouting that Chanda was brandishing a revolver. Police later found a camera monopod in his bag. The security officer, Ritwik Banerjee, had no option but to include his name in the FIR. It was more to save his life than to implicate him. Now, we have a great responsibility get him out of this mess," said a very senior member of the university authority.
Politics is something Chanda always avoided, said a university officer. "He used to say that he has little time for politics. He advised his students to do the same. But on Friday, he became an easy victim of politics. Trinamool Congress students tagged him with the Leftists, and the latter were quick enough to disown him," said the officer.
Chanda, who is very dear to his students, has the ability to adapt new technology in the applied arts, said his colleagues. It is because of him that the applied art or commercial art section in the university has evolved. But his dedication to teaching and students' welfare has hardly any parallel, they felt.
Since he joined the faculty of visual arts nearly a decade ago, Chanda has always make sure that every student of his class got along with him. "If anyone is in trouble, Chanda will get him out of it. So his arrest is more than a shock for us. It is unbelievable for anyone who knows him that he could instigate students to do something wrong," said a student.
Chanda, who lives with his two children and wife at Sodepur, was in complete shock and disbelief after his arrest. "He was shattered after finding himself slapped with the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. He kept saying that he had gone there to stop the fight, but his words fell on deaf ears," said one of his colleagues.