Scientist arrest - Mamata under fire

Leading scientists from India and abroad as well as other public personalities have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, condemning the police action against two West Bengal-based scientists. One of them is Partho Sarathi Ray, a molecular biologist, who was arrested earlier this month over his alleged role in protests against recent evictions from a slum; the other is a Jadavpur University professor who was arrested last week in connection with the controversial cartoon of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.