The state higher education department on Thursday asked Ashok Deb, president of South Calcutta Law College’s governing body, to get a written statement from police confirming that the college is closed for investigation into the alleged gang rape of a 24-year-old student on June 25.
A senior official said Deb, the Trinamool Congress MLA from Budge Budge, visited Bikash Bhavan, the education secretariat, on Thursday afternoon and was told to obtain written clarification from the police explaining why the college could not reopen for classes.
The college authorities have claimed that the police are not allowing teachers
and officials onto the premises. The police have denied this.
The college has been shut since Monday, with no indication of when it will reopen — a situation that has raised concerns among teachers and students.
Both college gates are blocked by police guardrails. The union room and security guard’s room have been sealed. The passage leading to vice-principal Nayna Chatterji’s office on the first floor has also been blocked.
Classes have not resumed since the crime. Semester exams for first-year students are scheduled to begin on July 16.
“We heard the police have taken over the campus for investigation, but there’s been no formal communication from either the college or the police. So we asked the governing body president to get written clarification from the police. We’ve requested Ashok Deb to send their response to the department,” a higher education department official told Metro.
Calls and messages to Deb from Metro went unanswered.
The college remains closed, even as education minister Bratya Basu said
on Wednesday: “I don’t know why the college authorities decided to keep the campus closed. Classes should
continue as usual. I am hopeful normalcy will be restored soon.”
The college governing body, which met on Tuesday, said the office would reopen, but classes would not resume yet. As of Thursday, the office remained shut.
Many students expressed concern about being unable to collect admit cards or fill out forms ahead of the July 16 exams. Fourth-year students said they would not be able to submit their projects on July 9 and 10 if the college didn’t reopen.
Teacher Haripada Banik said on Wednesday that due to police restrictions, staff could not enter the campus or meet members of Calcutta University’s five-member fact-finding team, which is investigating alleged irregularities involving Monojit Mishra, the prime accused in the gang rape.
Only vice-principal Chatterji was allowed in.
On Thursday, the five- member fact-finding team summoned Chatterji to CU’s College Street campus. CU’s officiating vice-chancellor Santa Datta Dey said she
met the university’s inspector of colleges, a committee member, and the controller of
`examinations.
A committee member said Chatterji submitted a report.
“We have yet to go through it. On Thursday, we mainly asked her to identify students who haven’t filled out forms. Even for those who have, documents haven’t reached the university. We asked her to address student concerns. She also requested that no semester exams be held on campus from July 16,” the member said.
Calls and messages to Chatterji from Metro went unanswered.