An assistant professor at the North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) on Friday accused the varsity student union’s president and five other students of “assaulting” him inside his office chamber on Thursday evening, prompting the police to register a case.

Alok Singh, who teaches Hindi, in his complaint lodged with the Mawkynroh outpost in Shillong, has alleged that the six students “forcibly locked me inside my chamber in the department. During this incident, they physically assaulted me and threatened to kill me by holding a scissor to my neck”.

According to Singh’s complaint, the students allegedly entered his office chamber at 4.45pm on Thursday.

Singh said he had “sustained injuries” to his “head, legs, and hands” and was “extremely distressed and traumatised” because of the “violent attack”, adding that as a teacher he now felt “unsafe and fearful within the campus premises” while urging the police to take immediate and appropriate action to ensure his safety and “uphold the dignity of the institution”.

The police have recorded Singh’s statement.

The development comes amid the ongoing demand by the students and teachers to remove vice-chancellor Prabha Shankar Shukla for his alleged failure as an administrator. Shukla has been on leave since mid-November.

Singh, 33, told The Telegraph that his ordeal continued for around half an hour and that his attackers said they won’t let him stay in NEHU and that “his ideology was different” when the teacher wanted to know the reasons for their violent conduct.

Singh hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur district and joined NEHU as a permanent faculty member in the Hindi department in 2023. “I have spent 13 years in Shillong. I have done my MPhil and PhD from NEHU,” he said.

Singh also met the varsity’s vice-chancellor in-charge S.M. Sungoh and the president of the varsity teachers’ union NEHUTA, Prof Lakhon Kma.

A statement was released on behalf of Sungoh, strongly condemning any act of violence on the university campus. An inquiry committee has also been formed.

NEHUTA, in its reaction, said they met Singh “to know his side of the story”. “NEHUTA strongly condemns any kind of physical assault on its members... The law will take its own course. Rest assured that we will play a constructive role in resolving the matter should the need for our intervention arise,” Kma said.