Ravenshaw VC, staff freed after 13 hours of gherao by students

Ravenshaw University Vice Chancellor Prof Ishan Kumar Patro and other staff were gheraoed by students for around 13 hours and freed Tuesday following intervention by the police, officials said.

Demanding recall of the students election cancellation notice, some students, including girls, had gheraoed the VC and other staff inside a seminar room of the university late on Monday night.

The university authorities on Monday had issued a notice declaring that this years elections for forming the Students Council had been cancelled due to "widespread unrests" in the campus.

"While we were discussing the election issue, some students gheraoed us and did not allow anyone to come out of the room despite our repeated requests. They kept us confined to the room for about 13 hours and did not even allow the women to use the washroom," the VC said.

He said this unruly behavior of the students amount to commission of offence and vowed to take stringent action against the offenders as per the law.

The vice chancellor said that those inhabitants of womens hostel, who stayed outside their hostel beyond 12 Oclock on Monday night, will be issued show-cause notices and their parents would also be intimated about it.

"In the absence of satisfactory replies to the notices, the hostel seats of the offenders will be cancelled," Patro said.

"Although, these protesting students were creating situations necessitating to declare sine die in the University, I am not going to upset the academic interests of another 8000 students for the unwarranted behavior of a handful of students," the VC said.