Police guard the Shibpur campus gates as Besu students return to sit for their examinations. Picture by Sanat Kumar Sinha

About 75 per cent students of Bengal Engineering and Science University (Besu) appeared for their mid-semester examinations that began amid tight security on Monday.

The rest of the students stayed away from the Shibpur campus for security reasons and because of injuries sustained in the March 19 violence.

Vice-chancellor N.R. Banerjea said: “Most of the students have appeared for their mid-semester exams and the first day passed off peacefully.”

When asked what would happen to those who hadn’t appeared for the exams, Banerjea said: “They will be considered if they appeal to us.”

According to sources, many examinees submitted blank answer scripts to protest the arrest of students, lathicharge by police and the assault by outsiders at the university gates on March 20.

A student said: “Many of us have submitted blank papers. A notice was issued stating that unless we sat for the exam, we would be rusticated from the hostel. So we decided to sit for the exam but did not write anything.”

Undergraduate students have written to the alumni society of the college, narrating the incidents of violence on campus on March 19 and 20 and requesting its intervention, said sources.

Manas Bhunia of the Congress asked about the situation at Besu during question hour in the Assembly on Monday. State higher education minister Sudarshan Raychowdhury replied: “The situation at Besu is peaceful. Mid-semester exams passed off peacefully today.”