Hailakandi, Sept. 12: The court of assistant district and sessions judge, Karimganj, today granted bail to Ashok Kumar Das, principal of Rabindra Sadan Girls' College, who was arrested on September 7 for misbehaving with students and sending them objectionable messages on social media.

The judge asked police to produce a detailed report along with the CCTV footage of the college and principal's chamber on that day.

The police have also started investigation on the complaint filed by an assistant professor political science department, L. Hmar, who was present in the principal's office, that three students had damaged college property, including documents and a CCTV, on September 7. Karimganj superintendent of police Gaurav Upadhyay today asked the college authorities to postpone the college union election.

On the other hand, associate professor Nibedita Nath took temporary charge of the institution for three months.

Director of higher education Babulal Sarma issued the directive yesterday after suspending Das pending departmental proceedings. He was suspended on the basis of the report submitted by a four-member committee, headed by the chairman of the governing body of the college, Nibaran Das. The report said the principal was 'unfriendly, undemocratic and rude' towards students and his habit of sending objectionable messages to students through social media had led to huge protests on September 7 on the campus.

The college unit of Assam College Teachers' Association (ACTA) had met Karimganj deputy commissioner Pradip Ranjan Talukdar and urged him not to allow Das to rejoin the college after his release as he had 'damaged' the relationship between a teacher and student.

A memorandum was also submitted to Talukdar signed by the association president S. Nath and secretary Kailash Sarma which said Das was not fit for the post of principal, particularly in a girls' college. They alleged that he had vitiated the academic atmosphere. He allegedly also 'tactfully decreased' the attendance percentage of protesting students. Talukdar assured them that a magisterial inquiry was ongoing and the truth will come out.

Former chairman of the governing body, Satu Roy, urged the organisations and people not to politicise the issue.

Some residents had condemned the arrest and suspension of the principal and termed him 'innocent'.

In a public meeting held at Nilamani Primary School in this town yesterday, speakers said a 'vested interest group' was active in the college to malign Das. They questioned the role of Nibaran Das and said the relation between the chairman and the principal was 'not good'. They requested that CCTV footage be examined before taking action against the principal.