SAGAR
Post News Network
BHUBANESWAR: Here is a spectacle of rum, romance and campus rowdies. Several city colleges, it would appear, are turning into breeding grounds for tomorrow’s hardened criminals. In the last six months alone, as many as 108 students from private engineering and government colleges here were found to have been involved in as many as 25 criminal cases. Interestingly, police investigations show one of the main reasons for the criminal acts is the urge to have money to splurge on alcohol or girlfriends.
According to the Commissionerate police data, the offences included extortion (section 385 IPC), rioting (section 147 IPC), robbery (section 392 IPC), theft (section 379 IPC) attempt to murder (section 307 IPC) and illegal possession of firearms. Students have also been booked for causing hurt (section 323 IPC), criminal intimidation (section 506 IPC), uttering obscene words in public (section 294 IPC), wrongfully restraining a person (section 341 IPC), among other criminal acts.
Since January, 52 students of Utkal University have been booked in 25 criminal cases – like rioting, criminal intimidation, causing grievous injury, possessing arms illegally, trespass etc. In the latest incident, Monday, three engineering students and one MBA student were arrested by the Commissionerate police for their involvement in cases of bike thefts. Police said there have been three cases this year of students hatching plans and committing robbery.
ACP Bishnu Mishra told Orissa POST that investigations showed these youths were promoted into crime by allure of money to splurge on alcohol and girlfriends. Mishra, who was earlier stationed at Shahid Nagar PS and had investigated cases related to Utkal University’s students, said, “At Utkal, however, it’s different. Campus politics mostly pit one group against the other.”
UU’s system that allows prolonged stay of old students on the campus hostels was one of the main reasons for the lawlessness and fights there. “We put the pressure on the university syndicate to come up with a rule that a student can’t do double PG from the same college. This was accepted, and for some time this brought an end to the regular crimes there,” said a police official.
At BJB College, so far three cases under sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (causing hurt), 294 (obscene act) and 509 (outraging women’s modesty) of IPC have been registered. May 26, two students of the CV Raman Institute of Technology were arrested for beating up a person and snatching away his belongings. A case under section 394(robbery) was registered.
Altogether 15 students of GITA College were arrested following a fight among students on the campus May 11 by Jatni police. Two cases of criminal intimidation and causing hurt were registered in February this year against three students of the Hi-Tech Medical College. There were around four incidents wherein more than 10 students of the BPUT and ITER colleges were involved. Charges for rioting, trespassing and robbery and theft were framed against them. Airfield police registered two cases in May, after students vandalised college property and beat up cops.
In another incident, Khandagiri police registered two robbery cases involving students this year. In one case, while more than 20 students were named as accused, four were arrested in another case.
During one of the police-student interactions this year, Police Commissioner RP Sharma suggested the colleges to have a counselor and keep a tab on students’ activities. However, none of the colleges has a counselor exclusively to deal with students’ problems like depression or stress. There are grievance redressal cells at some colleges, but they are poorly organised and hardly inspire confidence among students.
“We don’t feel comfortable sharing instances of eve teasing with teachers manning the welfare committee since they often advise us to keep quiet,” said a PG student.
DCP Satyabrata Bhoi Tuesday said, “We will prepare a database of the students who have been staying outside the campus with the help of the college authorities.” The Commissionerate Police believe it can have some control over students and monitor their activities if they reside within
the campus.