JNTU: Student’s suicide bid foiled
Final year metallurgy engineering student Sandeep Kumar doused himself with petrol in the chamber of JNTU principal Sai Baba Reddy on Wednesday. There were 30 students in the chamber when Kumar poured petrol on himself. Other students caught hold of him before he could ignite himself.
Sandeep Kumar and 30 other students of different departments in JNTU have been detained because their attendance was less than 65 per cent.
The attendance list is prepared before the semester exams. This is the usual practice and students who have less than the stipulated attendance are detained. Sandeep did not have the required attendance. He met senior professors and head of the department of metallurgy and principal Sai Baba Reddy demanding that his attendance be verified.
In the verification process, Sandeep’s attendance crossed the 65 per cent mark. But the principal Mr Reddy sensed mischief and alerted the Kukatpally police station about a meeting with the students.
The students came for the meeting and Sandeep insisted that he has been wronged. Mr Bala Reddy said, “I am merely following the rules. The disparity in the attendance is a cause of concern. Sandeep was not the only one to be detained, there were others too.”
Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarathi Parishad, the student wing of the BJP, has backed Sandeep and claim he is being wrongly targeted.
J Dileep of the ABVP says, “He is a meritorious student. He protected a first year student from being ragged by a final year student. There are other student groups who are targeting him.”
The administration of JNTU states that the students are purposely diverting attention to ragging as there is none.
“A case has been registered against a group of students for obstructing the officials from doing their duties and also for attempting suicide. Further investigation is underway,” said KPHB inspector K Laxminarayana.
THERE were 30 students in the chamber when Kumar, a final year metallurgy student poured petrol on himself inside the principal’s chamber.