Cuttack: Peeved at the decision of the Ravenshaw University authorities to cancel campus polls for the year, some students gheraoed Vice Chancellor Ishan Kumar Patro and other staff for around 13 hours and freed them Tuesday following intervention by the police.
Demanding recall of the students’ union election cancellation notice, some students, including girls, had confined the VC and other staff to a seminar room of the university late Monday night.
The university authorities had Monday issued a notice declaring that this year’s elections for forming the Students Council had been cancelled due to ‘widespread unrests’ in the campus.
“While we were discussing the election issue, some students gheraoed us and did not allow anyone to come out of the room despite our repeated requests. They kept us confined to the room for about 13 hours and did not even allow the women to use the washroom,” the VC said.
He said this unruly behaviour of the students amounts to commission of offence. Patro vowed to take stringent action against the offenders as per law.
The VC said that those inhabitants of women’s hostel, who stayed outside their hostel beyond 12 O’ clock Monday night, will be issued show-cause notices and their parents would also be intimated about it.
“In the absence of satisfactory replies to the notices, the hostel seats of the offenders will be cancelled,” Patro added.
“Although, these protesting students were creating situations, prompting us to declare sine die in the university, I am not going to upset the academic interests of another 8,000 students for the unwarranted behaviour of a handful of students,” the VC stated.
Students hold RU VC, staff ‘captive’
