Students block entry of top officials at Jadavpur University

Angry students of Jadavpur University Friday blocked the entry of the registrar and pro-vice chancellor, demanding the resignation of the two and the vice chancellor following an alleged police assault two days back.

Shouting slogans and waving posters, several hundred students squatted inside the building since early morning.

Registrar Pradip Kumar Ghosh and pro-vice chancellor Siddhartha Dutta were seated on two chairs outside the administrative building with a group of officials.

"We are seated here for now. If the students want to talk, we will talk but for now they are not letting us in. This is not the place to discuss, it must be done in a proper way, not in the middle of a din of protesters," Ghosh told reporters.

Both of them ruled out calling the police again. "There is no question of that," said Ghosh.

A student said, "We are allowing other officials to enter except for the VC, pro-VC and registrar. The three must take responsibility of the incident and resign as they were officiating when the police crackdown happened."

Several students of the prestigious university had to be hospitalised after police allegedly beat them up early Wednesday for laying siege to the VC's office seeking a fresh inquiry into the purported sexual harassment of a female student on the campus last month.

Both city Police Commissioner Surajit Kar Purakayastha and Education Minister Partha Chatterjee have refuted claims the students were baton charged or assaulted.

Political parties, students and members of civil society have strongly condemned the police chief for uttering - what they dubbed- "blatant lies".