Bhagalpur, July 20: Members of different students’ organisations today burnt the effigy of chief minister Nitish Kumar at Tilka Manjhi Bhaglapur University (TMBU) in protest against alleged police atrocity on the campus yesterday.

Intermediate commerce passouts had gone to Sundarwati Mahila College on Thursday to seek admission in the degree course. They blocked the main road connecting Adampur-Tilka Manjhi near the college around 4.30pm to protest against less number of commerce seats.

The college administration had closed the process after admitting 130 students, while more than 500 had lined up.

Jyotindra Choudhary, dean of students’ welfare, TMBU, went to the spot but was allegedly manhandled by the girls and students’ organisation members. Police rushed to free Choudhary from the girls but he was followed to the varsity’s administrative block.

Members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parisad (ABVP), Chhatra Rashtriya Janata Dal, All India Students’ Association (AISA) and Chhatra Sangarsha Samiti alleged that the police lathicharged them when they joined the protest and sat on dharna.

Rinki, an AISA leader, was also arrested and forwarded to judicial custody. FIRs were lodged against several named and unknown students.

Today, Choudhary alleged that men of K.N. Yadav, the proctor of the varsity, had attacked him at the roadblock. “Most of the protesters were criminals in the guise of students who wanted to kill me. They were Yadav’s men,” he said. Bimal Kumar, the vice-chancellor (VC) of TMBU, however, denied the allegations levelled against Yadav. The proctor was unavailable for comment.

District convener of ABVP Ashis Ranjan said the agitation would continue till the seats at Sundarwati Mahila College were not increased. The VC said the varsity would request the state government for the same.