NIT Silchar: A protest by students at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Silchar, Assam, took a violent turn on Friday night when clashes erupted with the police. This protest had been organised following the alleged suicide of a third-year electrical engineering student within the campus.
Violence erupts in the campus
Body of a third-year student, identified as Koj Buker, hanging in a room at hostel-7 on the institute’s campus triggered a tense situation. Students didn’t allow authorities from moving the body for nearly two hours, leading to police intervention. During the course of events, students allegedly vandalised the residences of some senior professors and clashed with the police. As a result, around 40 students sustained injuries due to police resorting to lathi-charges.
The police explained that they resorted to using mild force to disperse the protesting students as tensions escalated. Numal Mahatta, the Superintendent of Police for Cachar district, mentioned that a substantial crowd of students congregated in front of the residence of the institute’s Dean of Academics, BK Roy, and carried out extensive vandalism of his property.
40 Students injured during clashes
He stated, “They attacked the police and other officials too. At one point we had to lathicharge to control the situation and we are now investigating the matter further.” Mahatta stated that legal action may be taken against the students for their involvement in acts such as vandalising government property, assaulting government officials, and engaging in other unlawful activities.
During the lathi charge, numerous students sustained injuries and sought medical treatment at Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH). According to SMCH records, at least 40 students received treatment until 1 am, with some injuries deemed critical, as reported by individuals familiar with the situation.
Students claim Koj took his life due to management
The tragic incident involving Koj Buker, a resident of Arunachal Pradesh, is alleged to have occurred when he took his own life due to backlogs. According to certain students, their first semester in 2021 was conducted through online classes. A student said, “Due to lockdown, he (Buker) was at home. He failed to attend the classes due to lack of internet facility and the authorities slapping six backlogs on him.”
Buker was reportedly barred from attending classes during the fifth semester and had allegedly faced humiliation by the dean in the presence of other students just a few days prior, as per student accounts.
Continuing further, he said, “He appealed to the authorities to conduct a special examination so that he can clear the backlogs. Yesterday, he went to Professor BK Roy and he was badly insulted. He locked himself inside his room and later his dead body was found hanging.” Students have asserted that they have endured inhumane treatment from the dean and other authorities on multiple occasions. Nevertheless, the director has refuted these allegations.
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