LU hostellers protest , scuffle with cops over ‘no lunch’ issue
MESS OWNER did not prepare food following an altercation with the students on Saturday
LUCKNOW: Nearly a thousand hostellers of Lucknow University created a ruckus outside the vice chancellor’s residence on Sunday, as they did not get lunch at the central mess.
A girl protester even scuffled with a cop as angry protesters manhandled the policemen present. FIR has been registered against the girl Apoorva Verma and 15 unidentified students for creating law and order problem.
The trouble started late on Saturday night when 3 or 4 students entered the central mess and asked for dinner. The employees told them it was too late and the cook had left. The angry students insisted on being given food.
This led to heated arguments between the students and mess employees. When the students did not get food, they took away the recording box of the CCTV and left. In protest, the mess owner did not prepare lunch on Sunday.
This afternoon, when the hostellers did not get lunch they headed towards the vice chancellor’s residence and staged a demonstration. Proctor Vinod Singh tried his best to control the situation but the protesters wanted to meet the VC Prof SP Singh.
When the VC came out to meet them, a protester misbehaved with him too.
The VC and proctor Vinod Singh caught a person on dharna who was not a student of the university and handed him over to the police. Later on, it was learnt that in spite of taking him into custody and initiating required action, the police released him. “We will lodge a protest with senior police officials as to why the cops let him go when the V-C himself had caught him,” said LU spokesperson NK Pandey.
He said, “The university feels very unhappy about the uncooperative attitude of the police. It may be mentioned that the previous night some masked people entered the central mess and took away the recorder of the CCTV.”
Thereafter, the protesters entered into a brawl with the cops outside the V-C’s residence. A protesting student leader, Apoorva scuffled with a cop and held his collar.
Later, the protesters were assured that the mess contractor had agreed to prepare dinner and extra security would be deployed in the mess area.
The dinner had been cooked in the mess and inmates were eating at the time of filing this report.
Pandey said the VC desired that all the provosts should submit lists of hostel inmates, highlighting the names of those who had not yet submitted mess fee in spite of repeated reminders.