Dhenkanal: Saikrupa Plus II Residential College at Kunjakanta under ward No-2 of Dhenkanal, which was sealed December 2 and declared a Containment Zone, was raided Saturday night by Town police for conducting classes by flouting Covid-19 norms.
“As many as 57 students of Saikrupa including a few staff had recently tested positive for Covid-19. However, authorities of the educational institution had been conducting classes every night till Saturday when the police raided the college,” a senior official in Town Police Station said.
“Kunjakanta area is to remain under restriction till December 10. Acting on a tip-off that another educational institution in the containment zone was conducting night classes for its students and after considering the seriousness of the matter, a team of Town police personnel conducted raids two colleges in Kunjakanta,” the senior official added.
Some staff of the Saikrupa college managed to give a slip to the raiding team while a few more staff did not allow Town Police to enter the institution by locking its gate from inside. After waiting for a long time, the police personnel had to return, the source informed.
Also read: Check IMD’s wind speed forecast as Jawad inches closer to Odisha coast
On being contacted, special officer of Town police station Prakash Chandra Patra said, “When we reached Saikrupa college in a PCR van, we found three to four students loitering outside. After seeing us, they ran into the premises. Then some staff locked its main gate from inside and we only found that the classes were in progress.”
It is pertinent to mention here that following the emergence of a cluster of the deadly Covid-19 infection, Dhenkanal municipal administration was prompted to seal the Saikrupa college for an indefinite period.
An FIR has been lodged against the college chairperson and principal for failing to restrain many students, who went back to their respective homes after RT-PCR tests, Collector Saroj Kumar Sethi said.
Dhenkanal Municipality issued a show-cause notice to the authorities concerned for allowing students to leave the college premises without following Covid-19 safety protocols and informing the civic body.
Swab samples of at least 260 students were previously sent for RT-PCR testing after some of the inmates showed flu-like symptoms.
“Despite standing instruction on Covid-19, inmates of Saikrupa college were allowed to leave the hostel. The owner of the educational institution informed us that the students went with their respective guardians after submitting undertakings to keep their wards in home isolation,” executive officer of the civic body Atanu Samant had said.
PNN