The arrest of a Chanakya National Law University sophomore on charges of sexually harassing a girl has snowballed into a controversy.

The law school administration and students claim that the arrested young man has been falsely implicated in the case. Patna police say the arrest was made on the basis of a complaint lodged by the girl he allegedly harassed, and her mother.

The girl is a student of Patna Women's College.

The law school's students held a protest at their institute's entrance gate on Monday, demanding that the arrested sophomore be released immediately.

The law school student was arrested on Saturday from Jakkanpur.

The girl in her complaint to deputy inspector-general (DIG) Shalin had stated that the law school student had been harassing her for the past few months by sending her text messages, calling on her mobile and stalking her when she went to college.

She said she had even approached a women's helpline with her complaint but no action was initiated. Later, she said, she read in a newspaper about DIG Shalin's initiative to curb sexual harassment incidents.

DIG Shalin told The Telegraph : "Based on a complaint received through WhatsApp, I asked the police station concerned to take necessary legal action."

The Jakkanpur police station house officer said: "On Saturday, the boy was arrested from Jakkanpur. The police later handed over the boy to the Shastrinagar police as the complaint was lodged at Shastrinagar police station."

The law school student, a resident of Mainpura area in Patna, used to live at the institute hostel.

"The youth and the girl are neighbours and knew each other for the past few years," said a student of the law school. "They had studied up to Class X in the same school."

The law school's registrar, S.P. Singh, also said that it is not a case of "eve teasing" and it requires investigation. "The boy was not arrested from the college campus, he was picked up from outside the campus. The administration came to know about the incident from the youth's friends," Singh said.

The protesting law students claimed the police had falsely implicated their classmate.

A third-year student at the law school said: "The false reporting - that the youth was arrested after police conducted a raid at the hostel - was done to defame the institution. CNLU is a national institute and students get admission at institute after clearing CLAT."

That the girl knew the accused cannot be a defence and in most such cases of harassment, stalking, and intimidation, the accused is usually someone the woman knows, said DIG Shalin.

"Knowing a person doesn't give anyone a right to harass a girl or woman," the officer added.