Amid the tense situation following the death of a student at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Silchar leading to vandalism and unruliness, Director General of Assam Police (DGP) GP Singh on Saturday night has directed the administration to be firm in dealing with the vandalism.
He also asked the concerned administration to be empathetic while dealing with the issues raised by the students.
In reference to the prevailing chaotic situation at NIT Silchar, DGP posted on X, "Protest is understandable on an emotive issue, violence & vandalism is neither understandable nor acceptable. Administration has been advised to be firm in dealing with vandalism while simultaneously deal with empathy on issues raised. Issues need resolution through discussions. Parents are sincerely requested to appropriately counsel their wards."
It may be mentioned that on Saturday, tense and chaotic situation prevailed at NIT Silchar after a student from the electrical department committed suicide.
The body was found hanging under suspicious circumstances from a window inside the NIT hostel campus. It has come to the fore that the said engineering student had a backlog on several subjects from his first semester and therefore, the NIT authorities didn’t allow him to register for the third year until he clears his backlogs. Following this, the student decided to meet NIT Academic Dean BK Roy seeking help on the matter. But, his concerns were not taken into consideration.
Owing to this, the student apparently decided to end his life, as per sources.
Following the incident, as many as 2,000 students came out at night and protested in front of the NIT administrative building in Silchar.
The situation deteriorated and the agitated students then gheraoed the government residence of NIT academic dean BK Roy and staged a protest.
The agitated students locked up his family members including Dean Roy inside the house and vandalized the government property.
The District Commissioner Rohan Kumar Jha and Superintendent of police Numal Mahatta immediately reached the spot with huge police and CRPF forces on receiving the news of the incident.
The students, however, created a ruckus by closing the gate in front of the government residence demanding the removal and arrest of the Dean.
The situation then went out of control. Following this, the administration decided to baton charge to disperse the students.
Later, on Saturday evening, at least 5,000 students from each department wearing black cloth staged a silent protest.
