JU VC, officials kept under gherao since last evening

Jadavpur University Vice Chancellor Suranjan Das and other officials were kept confined in their office since last evening by a group of students demanding holding of union elections next month.
A university official said that the protests, which began last evening, were still continuing and there was no signs of the gherao being lifted yet.
"I hope that things will soon be sorted out with the students. I am trying to negotiate with them," Das told PTI.
There was no report of any health problems of the officials following the confinement till now, the official said.
The state higher education department had recently issued an advisory to the state-run varsity saying that in order to avoid any disturbance during exams of different boards, student elections should not be held in February.

Protesting against this, a small group of students from the university gheraoed the VC and other officials.

The students said they wanted the VC to notify on their behalf that elections would be held on time.
On earlier occasions too the group of students have gheraoed the VC over various campus issues.
In 2014, Das's predecessor Abhijit Chakrabarti was gheraoed demanding a fresh probe panel in the alleged sexual harassment of a girl student. Fearing threat to life he called police inside the campus which created a huge furore and Chakrabarti was forced to resign.