'No baton charge on Jadavpur students'

'No baton charge on Jadavpur students'

POLICE commissioner Surajit Kar Purakayastha on Thursday asserted the demonstrating Jadavpur University students were not baton-charged and said the force escorted university officials who were apprehensive of their security after being confined by the students in the university premises.

Several students of the prestigious university had to he hospitalised after police allegedly beat them up on early Wednesday for laying siege to vice chancellor AbhijitChakrabarty's office while seeking a fresh inquiry into the purported sexual harassment of a female student on the campus last month. The police chief also claimed the presence of "outsiders, carrying arms" among the demonstrating students.

lie said, "Normally police do not enter any academic premise on their own unless there is a request and in this case, the vice chancellor made repeated distress calls saying they were under threat and wanted to be rescued. Accordingly, police went there and tried to negotiate with the students.

"When nothing worked, the VC along with other officials, including females who were feeling sick and wanted to be rescued were escorted outside the premises. There is no question of any lathichargc as none of the personnel carried any lathi (baton)."

Posted in: News 2014