(From top) Students of Bharat Institute of Aeronautics stage a dharna on the institute premises after chief instructor allegedly abused a student; they protest outside the main entrance of the institute; students smashed a windowpane of the institute. Photos by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Aug. 13: A glorious past leading to golden tomorrow — the tag line of Indian Institute of Aeronautics (IIA) seems to be an irony after hundreds of students of Bharat Institute of Aeronautic (BIA), run by IIA, vented their anger on the institute premise after a student was allegedly abused by the chief instructor, A.K. Singh, here today.

Agitating students vandalised the office of the institute and broke the glass of the chairman’s car parked on the premise.

BIA is an aircraft maintenance-engineering institute located on the premises of Jai Prakash Narayan International Airport and affiliated to directorate-general of civil aviation (DGCA).

Rohan Kumar, student of the institute, said: “We demand the immediate sacking of the chief instructor. A case should be filed against him.”

Another student of the institute Kavya Kumar said: “The institute does not provide any placement and is taking a hefty amount as fee. At the time of admission the institute promised 100% job placement but for the past three years not even single campus selection team had arrived here.” The course fees at BIA is Rs 3,31,000.

Another student, Renu Kumari (name changed) said: “The institute asks for money for every little thing and gives unsatisfactory answers when we ask for reason. The officials often use filthy language.”

She added that the institute had even threatened to fail them in the examinations. Meanwhile, airport officer in-charge Nihar Bhusan tried to stop the vandalism but failed.

The students made an unruly scene on the premises and destroyed institute property. Bhusan said: “We can control the situation with harsh measures but we do not want to use it on students as they are unaware of the consequences of their actions.”

He said that no arrests have been made yet. Inspector of Gardanibag police station Binod Prasad and few constables arrived to take stock of the situation.

They tried to settle the issue by talking to the students, but the agitation refused to subside. After agitating for three hours, the students were ready to talk to the management under the guidance of Bhusan.They handed over their demands to institute chairman, J.K. Sinha.

Sinha said: “The management will take action against Singh for his behaviour after an inquiry is conducted.”

However, Vishwanath Singh, president of BIA, blamed the students for their poor academic performance.

“We cannot provide them with placement until they get good marks in the examinations.”

He laid emphasis on the demands of the students and said, the management will definitely look into it and will also try to solve the problems as soon as possible.