Students ransack Sambalpur University properties; police resort to baton charge

Sambalpur: Tension flared up at Sambalpur University after some students ransacked properties on campus Tuesday. The students are opposing the university’s decision to conduct offline examinations.

According to a source, citing COVID-19 cases being on the rise for last couple of days, the students are demanding the Plus III examinations be held in both offline and online mode.

After finding the authorities non-committal, the agitating students tried to barge into the Vice-Chancellor’s office. The police force deployed at the campus had to resort to mild lathi-charge. This enraged the students who later vandalised the properties of the university.

Palpable tension was still prevailing at the campus at the time of filing this report. However, two platoons of police forces have been deployed at the campus to avoid further escalation.

Notably, students of the Bhubanananda Odisha School of Engineering (BOSE) in Cuttack town had staged a demonstration in front of the institution March 30, demanding their examinations are held in online mode.

Similarly, the students of Odisha School of Mining and Engineering (OSME) had staged a demonstration in front of the institution March 30 demanding online mode of examinations.

PNN