Teachers, students threaten to go on indefinite protest over ‘police laxity’

LUCKNOW : Teachers and students of the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU) donned black ribbons on Thursday, to protest against failure of police to nab the culprits who attacked the varsity’s vice-chancellor (VC). They threatened to go on indefinite strike if the attackers were not arrested by Sunday.

“We have decided to hold a three day long protest, starting today against laxity of the police in arresting the accused who attacked the VC. We will go on indefinite strike from Monday if the arrest is not made by Sunday. The teaching will be suspended and there will be no officials work either. Teachers will also join us from Monday,” said Manish Verma, a senior teacher of the BBAU. The varsity VC NMP Verma was attacked by two masked men when he left the university campus for home on cycle on Monday evening. “They attacked him with a wooden club before fleeing from the place. He was rushed to the hospital for medical care,” he said.

Ashiana police have lodged an FIR against unidentified persons in this connection and initiated investigation into the matter. A police team also visited the university and inspected the spot where the attack took place.

“We are scanning CCTV footages of four cameras installed in the vicinity where the attack took place. We are also taking help of electronic surveillance to identify the attackers,” said Station House Officer (SHO) of Ashiana police station, Birjesh Singh.

The police team is also looking into previous cases linked to the university. “The environment has not been well in the university since last year. We are looking into previous cases that might have triggered the attack on the V-C,” the SHO added.