Ahmedabad, Feb. 8: Utsav Sharma’s project guide at the National Institute of Design was amazed today to learn of his “introverted, soft-spoken” student’s spectacular attack on S.P.S. Rathore in full glare of police and media.

But Shekhar Mukherjee added that Utsav had slipped behind his academic schedule, left the campus a year ago to complete his diploma project from home in Varanasi, and had not met him even once in the past three months.

Utsav, a BHU bachelor of fine arts, had joined the NID in 2006 to earn a postgraduate diploma in animation and film design. NID spokesperson Sameer More said Utsav had completed his two-year course in 2008 but failed to submit his project. Nor had he completed the internship, and so had not been awarded the diploma certificate yet.

“His record was good,” Mukherjee said. “He was a gentle, decent guy who would not socialise much. How can such a sincere person, whose project theme was ‘social message’, behave so impulsively?”

“The institute will take action against him if a criminal case is filed,” More said. “A panel will decide the action.”