Maoist clears SET from correctional home

Kolkata: Arnab Dam has cleared the State Eligibility Test examination from a correctional home in the state. Dam alias Bikram is at present lodged at Hooghly Correctional Home. Dam has set an example as till date no person from the state had cleared SET from a correctional home.

Dam, who is now eligible for lectureship, had pursued his Bachelors and Masters degrees in History from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) from the correctional home and had secured first division both the times. He had appeared for SET on December 2 last year.

Dam had also applied for National Eligibility Test examination but failed to appear for the examination because he turned up late at the examination centre due to some administrative issues.

Dam, who is the son of retired judge SK Dam and a resident of Garia, has been a meritorious student throughout his academic career.

He passed his higher secondary examination from Narendarpur Ramkrishna Mission and joined mechanical engineering at IIT Kharagpur. However, in 1998 during his third semester, he mysteriously disappeared from the campus. He was arrested in 2005 for involvement in Maoist activities and after some months in prison he was out on bail.

Dam was a state committee

member of CPI Maoists in

Bengal and was active in areas of neighbouring states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha.

He was arrested in connection with Maoist attack at the Silda camp of the Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) in

2012 from Balarapur in Purulia and has been lodged in prison since then. He had appeared for her SET examination from Presidency Correctional Home.

Dam's father was informed about his son's results through a speed post on Friday.

Now, if the state government permits Dam can take up lectureship jobs in institutions such as Calcutta University and Jadavpur University.

Senior officials of the state

Correctional Administration department including minister Ujjal Biswas have expressed joy over Dam's achievement.