Principal, 2 others booked for ‘abetting’ suicide

PUNJAB COLLEGE STUDENT’S DEATH

THE PUNJAB police booked Khalsa College’s principal Mehal Singh along with two others for abetment to suicide on Thursday, a day after a B.SC Agriculture 4th semester student Harpreet Singh was found dead. Tension gripped the campus with students staging protests amid heavy police deployment.

Harpreet’s father Yadwinder Singh had claimed his son, who as head of the hostel’s mess committee had questioned the college management on the quality of food, was being prevented from appearing for his final exam by the college administration, which had detained his role number. Police have booked principal Mehal Singh, registrar Davinder Singh and head of agriculture department Randeep Kaur.

Assistantcommissionerofpolice West Vishaljit Singh said, “We have registered a case against the trio on a complaint from the deceased’s father, who has alleged that the college management had detained roll numbers of many students but later released all except his son’s. He has alleged that his son’s activism was notlikedbythemanagement,which harassed him.”

“We are yet to investigate all the allegations. An FIR has been registered under Section 306 of the IPC. We are talking to students to end their dharna first,” the officer said.

Students began protests on the main road outside Khalsa College on Wednesday evening, which continued Thursday evening amid heavy deployment of police and even anti-riot vehicles inside and outside the campus. Traffic remained partially affected on Amritsar-attari Road for the whole of Thursday.

While the police have been trying to convince the students to call off their protests since three people have been booked, students are demanding the principal’s arrest.

Many students’ bodies including National Student Federation, Sikh Students Organisation and political parties like Congress and AAP have also joined the protest, though students did not allow anyone among them to speak from stage.

Meanwhile, body of Harpreet Singh was cremated at his native village Gomati Kalan in Bathinda on Wednesday evening.